Bhubaneswar: Senior Congress leader and Jatni MLA Suresh Routray has stronly protested the announcement of the Odisha Assembly Speaker that senior MLAs can join the proceedings of the monsoon session through video-conferencing.
In a letter to Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro, Routray threatened of boycotting the Assembly if MLAs over 60 years are not allowed to attend the session which is scheduled to start on September 29.
Stating that disallowing the elected people’s representatives to represent the problems of the electorate is undemocratic, the legislator demanded that all MLAs should be allowed to attend the session after undergoing COVID-19 test.
On September 14, the Speaker had stated that since elderly people are prone to COVID-19, senior MLAs can join the proceedings through video conferencing from their respective district headquarters.
The state government, in an official notification on Wednesday, stated that all MLAs, their drivers, security staff and employees at the State Secretariat will undergo RT-PCR COVID-19 test at a special camp on September 27 and 28, ahead of the monsoon session.
Also Read: Assembly Monsoon Session: COVID-19 Test For Odisha MLAs, Their PSOs & Drivers On Sept 27-28
