Madhya Pradesh government is mulling formation of a legislative council in the state and steps are afoot in this direction. Setting up of a legislative council is one of the key electoral promises of the ruling Congress party made in its Vachan Patra.
A meeting is scheduled on October 29 under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary S.R. Mohanty to look into the details of the proposal to set up the upper house in the state.
Officials from different department concerned like law, legislative affairs, state assembly secretariat and others are expected to participate in the meeting. Mohanty confirmed to THE WEEK that the meeting is scheduled to look at the nitty-gritty of the proposal.
“It is an initial meeting to take a look at the details involved in setting up of the council. But let me make it clear that no call has yet been taken on the matter at administrative level. We will have a look at things, the pros and cons and put forth the recommendations before the political leadership,” Mohanty said.
Sources said that the state department of legislative affairs has already prepared a draft proposal for formation of the legislative council according to legal provisions and got it checked by the law department.
If it gets a go ahead at government level, the proposal would be put before the legislative assembly and with its consent would be sent to Lok Sabha for final approval.
Around 75 members likely
If a legislative council is set up in Madhya Pradesh, it will become 7th state in the country to have the bicameral system of legislature as the state of Jammu & Kashmir that had the system stands bifurcated.
The proposed upper house in MP is likely to have around 75 members as the number of members in legislative council cannot be more than one third of the strength of legislative assembly (230 for MP). A separate secretariat would have to be set up for the council.
Public relations and legislative affairs minister P.C. Sharma had earlier told the media that the Congress would keep its electoral promises including that of the legislative council.
