Patna: On International Women`s Day, women
legislators were on Tuesday allowed to raise questions and discuss
problems in their constituencies during the Zero Hour in the
Bihar Assembly following an intervention by the Chief
Minister.
Soon after the end of the Zero Hour, ruling BJP MLA Usha
Vidyarthy wanted to know about the fate of her request to the
Assembly Secretariat, seeking permission to raise a question
demanding a statement from the government on the alleged
misbehaviour with journalists at Bihta, on the outskirts of
the state capital recently.
When the Speaker refused to entertain her request,
Vidyarthy said while the entire nation was celebrating Women`s
Day, "we are being ignored here".
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was present in the
House, soon intervened and requested the Chair to allow the
women legislators to have their say and raise the matter.
The Speaker then relaxed the rules and allowed the BJP
MLA to raise her question during the Zero Hour.
Then one by one, four more women legislators Poonam
Devi, Asha Devi, Muni Devi and Usha Sinha raised questions
about some problems in their respective constituencies.
After allowing the women legislators to raise the
issues, the Speaker said he had respected the sentiments of
the members but "such requests won`t be entertained in
future".
PTI
