Ranchi, March 10 The Jharkhand assembly witnessed a heated exchange between the treasury and opposition benches on Tuesday regarding "deteriorating" law and order, the "dominance" of bureaucracy, and alleged corruption in the state, while AJSU Party MLA Nirmal Mahato was asked to leave the House for causing disruption.
During the Question Hour, Leader of the Opposition Babulal Marandi cited instances of law and order breaches in the Giridih and Pakur districts, and claimed that the Hemant Soren-led government, which described itself as 'Abua sarkar' (our government), has become "Babua". He was referring to the government being run by "babus" (bureaucrats and office heads of various departments).
He also alleged that government "babus" have become "unruly" and that "corruption was rampant in government offices".
Marandi demanded that an immediate discussion be held on the law and order situation in the state, and that the remaining work of the House be suspended.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Radhakrishna Kishore countered the leader of the opposition's allegations, stating that the House operates according to rules.
He reminded that the Business Advisory Committee had held a meeting a day before and said that the opposition had not raised these issues in that discussion.
Kishore alleged that the opposition was trying to disrupt the House proceedings only to remain in the media spotlight.
At one point, JMM leader and cabinet minister Sudivya Kumar and the AJSU party legislator were engaged in a heated debate.
Mahato went to the well of the House and shouted slogans against the government over law and order and corruption issues.
Unable to manage the proceedings, Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato ordered that the AJSU Party legislator be asked to leave.
Marandi strongly objected to the Speaker's ruling and alleged that the AJSU Party MLA was provoked to enter the well of the House.
Kishore appealed to the opposition MLAs to remain calm, stating that the House's proceedings are governed by rules.
He said, "All of you should remain seated and raise any questions as per the rules. The government is fully prepared to respond to every question."
Following the request of the parliamentary affairs minister, the Speaker asked Nirmal Mahato to rejoin the proceedings.
CPI(ML) MLA Arup Chatterjee raised issues related to the education system in schools for linguistic minorities.
He claimed that children studying in grades 1 to 6 in several minority schools across the state should also be provided with textbooks, uniforms, bicycles, and scholarships, as these benefits are given for government schools.
State minister Sudivya Sonu claimed that minority schools do not come under the category of government schools, and hence, uniforms and scholarships could not be provided.
He, however, assured that the MLA's proposal for providing uniforms and scholarships to students in minority schools would be put before the department for a policy decision.