The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicamerallegislature of the state of Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, directly elected from 117 single-seat constituencies. The tenure of the Legislative Assembly is five years unless dissolved sooner. The Speaker of the sixteenth assembly is Kultar Singh Sandhwan. The meeting place of the Legislative Assembly since 6 March 1961 is the Vidhan Bhavan in Chandigarh.
After the independence of India, on 15 July 1948, eight princely states of East Punjab grouped together to form a single state, Patiala and East Punjab States Union. The Punjab State Legislature was a bicameral house in April 1952, comprising the Vidhan Sabha (lower house) and Vidhan Parishad (upper house). In 1956 that state was largely merged into Punjab, the strength of the Vidhan Parishad of the new State of Punjab was enhanced from 40 seats to 46 seats and in 1957, it was increased to 51. Punjab was trifurcated in 1966 to form Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. The Vidhan Parishad was reduced to 40 seats and the Vidhan Sabha was grown by 50 seats to 104 seats. On 1 January 1970, the Vidhan Parishad was abolished leaving the state with a unicameral legislature.[2]
Legislature
The legislature comprises the governor and the Punjab Legislative Assembly, which is the highest political organ in the state. The governor has the power to summon the assembly or to close the same. All members of the legislative assembly are directly elected, normally once in every five years by the eligible voters who are above 18 years of age. The current assembly consists of 117 elected members. The elected members select one of its own members as its chairperson who is called the speaker of the assembly. The speaker is assisted by the deputy speaker who is also elected by the members. The conduct of a meeting in the house is the responsibility of the speaker.
The main function of the assembly is to pass laws and rules. Every bill passed by the house has to be finally approved by the governor before it becomes applicable.
The normal term of the legislative assembly is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting.[3]
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann took the oath of office on 16 March at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of Bhagat Singh. Inderbir Singh Nijjar took the oath as Protem Speaker. On 17 March Nijjar administered the oath of office to all the 117 legislators of the Sixteenth Punjab Legislative assembly.[5] Other 10 cabinet ministers of the Mann ministry, took oath on 19 March.
On 22 June 2022, Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan announced that the Punjab legislators will get answers on all issues that they raise during the Assembly debates. The answers would be provided during the Zero Hour. This was done for the first time in the history of Punjab Assembly.[6]
Operation Lotus
Aam Aadmi Party, the ruling party in Punjab, accused BJP of spending ₹1375 Crore in Punjab to bribe the AAP MLAs as part of Operation Lotus. Punjab's Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said in a press conference, "Our MLAs have been approached with offers of up to Rs 25 crore to break away from AAP. The MLAs were told: “bade bau ji se milwayenge”. These MLAs have also been offered big posts. They were told that if you get more MLAs along, you would be given upto Rs 75 crore,"[7][8]
AAP government called a special Session of the Assembly on 22 September to bring a "confidence motion". Governor Banwarilal Purohit refused to allow permission for the special session. AAP said that Governor was acting on the behest of BJP in cancelling the 22 September session so that Operation Lotus can succeed. Business Advisory Committee of the Assembly has representatives of all the parties and it decides the legislative business that occurs in the Assembly.[9] The opposition parties Congress, SAD and BJP hailed governors decision to prevent the special session from occurring.[10] CM Mann said that "Gov/Presi consent before any session of Legislature is a formality. In 75 years, no Presi/Gov ever asked list of Legislative business before calling session. Legislative business is decided by BAC (Business Advisory Committee of the House) and Speaker. Next Gov will ask all speeches also to be approved by him. Its too much." On 25 September, Purohit agreed to summon the special session of the Assembly.[11]
Punjab Assembly Committee on Local Bodies of Punjab Legislative Assembly is constituted annually for a one-year period from among the members of the Assembly. This Committee consists of thirteen members.[19][20][21] The chairperson and the members are appointed by the Punjab Assembly speaker. In 2021, Punjab Assembly 'Committee Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions' has been split into committees, namely 'Committee on Local Bodies' and 'Committee on Panchayati Raj Institutions'.[22]
The purpose of the committee is to do a Legislative oversight of the Local Bodies and institutions in Punjab state. The committee also conducts surveys and inspections to observe, inspect and collect information on the work done by the local bodies.[23][24] It also monitors the work of the Punjab Pollution Control Board.[25]
Overview
The speaker appoints the committees as per the powers conferred by Article 208 of the Constitution of India read with section 32 of the States Re-organisation Act, 1956 (37 of 1956), and in pursuance of Rules 232(1) and 2(b) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha (Punjab Legislative Assembly).[22]
According to the Punjab Government Gazette, 2021 the functions of the committee are defined below.[22]
(1) There shall be a Committee on Local Bodies consisting of not more than thirteen Members for the examination of the working of the Local Bodies which Shall mean and include Notified Area Committees, Municipal Committees, Improvement Trusts and Municipal Corporations.
(2) The committee shall be nominated by the Speaker and the term of office of the Members of the Committee shall be one year.
Functions of the Committee
The functions of the Committee shall be
(a) to examine the audit reports and accounts of the Local Bodies as may be selected by the Committee;
(b) to examine the reports, if any, of the Examiner, Local Fund Accounts laid on the Table of the House;
(c) to examine in the context of autonomy, whether affairs of the Local Bodies are being managed in accordance with the provisions of law;
(d) to examine any other aspect of the working of any Local Body, as may be referred to it by the Speaker.
(e) to examine the annual technical inspection reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General on Urban Local Bodies, if any, laid on the Table of the House.
Provided that the Committee shall not examine and investigate any of the following, namely :-
(i) matters of major Government policy as distinct from the working of the Local Bodies;
(ii) matters relating to day-to-day administration of Local Bodies; and
(iii) matters for the consideration of which machinery is established by any special statute under which the Local Bodies are established.
Current members
For the one-year period starting May 2022, the Committee on Local Bodies of 16th Punjab Assembly had following members:[19][14]
^Singh, Prabhjot (22 May 2010). "Legislators' panels reconstituted". Tribuneindia.com. The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Punjab. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
