Sixth & Seventh Session of the 14th Vidhan Sabha
Introduction of Zero Hour
For the first time, “Zero Hour” was introduced in the Himachal Vidhan Sabha, akin to the tradition followed in the Indian Parliament. During the Zero hour, members of the HP Vidhan Sabha had the liberty to raise any issue regarding their constituency or the state. They also had to give a notice of the question only one hour before the start of the session. The government’s ministers also had the liberty to either answer the question or submit a written reply later.A total of 26 subjects were discussed during the “Zero Hour” in the entire session. Congress MLA from Lahaul and Spiti, Anuradha Rana, was the first legislator to raise an issue under Zero Hour.
Seventh Session
The seventh session of the 14th HP Vidhan Sabha was held at Tapovan campus in Dharamshala, from December 18 to 21, 2024. This winter session concluded with a record productivity rate of 106 percent. The House met for a total of four meetings, spanning 21 hours and 20 minutes, in total.
The Congress, as the ruling party, contributed a total of 9 hours and 30 minutes to the discussion, while BJP, as the opposition, participated for 8 hours and 30 minutes.
On December 18th, the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) was also launched. The Speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, said that the launch of this application will make Himachal Pradesh a pioneer in digitised legislative processes.
A total of 14 government bills were introduced and passed during this session. In private member business, three resolutions were presented on December 20. Out of these, one was withdrawn, one deferred to the next session, and one was partially discussed, owing to time constraints.
During this session, reports from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on state finances and public health infrastructure were also tabled.
The HP Legislative Assembly held a total of 27 meetings in 2024, across the budget, monsoon and winter sessions. The total productivity of the Assembly was 96 percent.
Sixth Session
The sixth session of the fourteenth Legislative Assembly was held from August 27, 2024 to September 10, 2024. The meetings of the House were scheduled till September 09, but with the consent of the House, the schedule was extended for one more day. A total of 11 meetings were organised in this session, and the proceedings lasted for about 53 hours. The productivity of the session was 96 percent.
On the first day of the session, the entire House paid tribute to Daulat Ram Chaudhary, Narayan Singh Swami, Tek Chand, all three being ex-members of the Legislative Assembly. The House also paid tribute to those who lost their lives during the recent monsoon disaster in the state.
During the session, the government answered a total of 480 starred and 299 unstarred questions. Detailed discussions were held on 14 subjects under Rule 62 and 1 subject under Rule 63. Two days, August 29th and September 05th, were fixed for private member working days, on which the members presented 8 private member resolutions under Rule 101, out of which 3 resolutions were answered. Two government resolutions were passed under Rule 102. Under Rule 130, 5 subjects were scheduled to be discussed.
Twenty-five government bills were introduced in the House and passed after discussion. Under Rule 324, 12 subjects were raised in the House through special mention. The committees of the House presented 45 reports in the House.
Holding a press conference on September 10, 2024, the Speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania shared facts about the session and thanked all the members of the ruling and opposition parties for their constructive cooperation, due to which he was able to conduct the session smoothly. He also thanked the Leader of the House, Thakur Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Leader of the Opposition, Jairam Thakur, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Harshvardhan Chauhan, and all the members of the Speaker’s Table. He thanked the Legislative Assembly Secretary and the staff of Vidhan Sabha for their cooperation.
Students Visit the Assembly
During the sixth session of the fourteenth HP Vidhan Sabha, 1023 students from many educational institutions in Shimla visited the Assembly to watch the proceedings, a testament to India’s strong democracy.
These visits help the students visualise democracy in action, and such visits are inspirational for these young people. The Speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, makes sure to meet these student delegations to inspire them to contribute towards Himachal and India’s democracy. During these visits, Pathania interacted with the students and answered many queries regarding the parliamentary system and democracy. He also educated the students about the history of the Assembly, especially of the Council Chamber, which was constructed for the National Assembly during the British period between 1920 and 1925. Pathania informed the students how freedom fighters like Moti Lal Nehru, Lala Lajpat Rai, and many others had once been a member of the National Assembly.
Students of Indian Institute of Legal Studies and Government Girls College, Shimla visited the Vidhan Sabha on August 30, 2024. Schools that visited include DAV Lakkar Bazar, Shimla, Loreto Convent School, Tarahall, Shimla, DAV, Kumharsain, among others.