Telangana Assembly passes four bills sent back by Governor by voice vote

Hyderabad, Aug 5 (IANS) The tussle between Governor Tamilsai Soundararajan and the ruling Bharata Raastriya Samithi (BRS) in Telangana took a new twist as the Assembly again passed four bills, returned by the Governor, by voice vote.

The Governor, had returned the bills, sent for her approval in September 2022 and February 2023, with queries, and doubts and sought clarifications.

The bills were introduced in and passed by the Assembly by a voice vote after Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy made an announcement in this regard at 10 p.m. on Friday.

The opposition Congress had raised an objection that it was too late in the night for taking up the procedure of passing of bills.

M.Bhatti Vikramarka, leader of Congress Legislature Party, in the house stated in lighter vein that the Minister for Labour C. Malla Reddy should not be allowed to work overtime as labour laws do not permit it.

The Telangana Municipal Laws Amendment Bill, 2022, the Telangana State Private Universities Establishment and Regulation Amendment Bill, 2022, The Telangana Public Employment Regulation of Age of Superannuation Amendment Bill, 2022, and the Telangana Panchayat Raj Amendment Bill, 2022 were introduced and passed with voice vote without any modifications.

IT, Industries and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao introduced the Telangana Municipal Laws Amendment Bill, 2022, stating the bill aimed to increase the number of co-opted members in municipal bodies from 5 to 15 and underlined that the objection towards the bill that it would only benefit minorities is incorrect.

The representation would increase only proportionally, he stated.

The bill was passed on September 13, 2022 and sent for approval to the Governor on the next day.

Meanwhile, employees of the Telangana State Road Transportation Company (TSRTC) on Saturday protested against the Governor for delaying giving her consent on the bill aimed at absorbing 43,000 employees under the government pay scale.

Wearing black badges and shouting slogans against the Governor, they boycotted duties from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.. Bus services across Telangana were disrupted causing inconvenience to a large number of passengers.

Bharat Rashtriya Samithi (BRS) workers also took part in the protest.

Following the protests, the Governor had tweeted that she was pained to know about the strike as it caused inconvenience to the public. She maintained that she is with RTC employees and is studying the bill to ensure safeguarding the rights of the employees. 

She has invited the TSRTC Union leaders to the Raj Bhavan over the issue.