Speaker’s suggestion to advance Ministers’ announcements on new initiatives sparks debate in Assembly

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar’s suggestion that Ministers make department-wise new announcements before the debate on demands for grants, instead of following the usual practice of making them after the debate and reply, triggered an interesting debate in the Assembly on Thursday.

Mr. Prabhakar told the Assembly that the House had functioned continuously for nine hours and 43 minutes on August 25. He described it as a historic feat and thanked all members for ensuring the smooth conduct of proceedings despite several challenges.

Noting that Ministers usually made announcements on new schemes and initiatives after listening to the debate and delivering their replies, which often took considerable time, the Speaker suggested that all new announcements be made when the demands for grants for the respective departments are moved, before the debate begins.

DMK MLA K.N. Nehru said the convention was that Ministers, in their replies, would request members to withdraw cut motions and pass the demands for grants. He argued that making announcements before the debate would defeat the purpose of members raising issues and putting forward their demands concerning the respective departments. Instead, he suggested that Ministers make the announcements after the debate and then deliver their speeches.

The Speaker said it would be beneficial for members if the announcements were made first, as this would give them an opportunity to speak not only on the demands for grants but also offer suggestions on the new announcements.

AIADMK floor leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami said the established convention was for Ministers to make announcements at the end, after the debate and their replies. If the announcements were made at the beginning, he said, the media would focus on the announcements rather than on the debate and the Minister’s reply. Mr. Prabhakar said the purpose of the announcements was to inform the public about the government’s new schemes.

DMK MLA Thangam Thennarasu drew an analogy with a movie. He said the climax should come at the end. Just because people sit through a three-hour film, would it be appropriate to show the climax first, he asked. The Speaker responded that his concern was what would happen if people did not stay to watch the climax.

Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin said if the film was good, people would stay until the end to watch the climax. He wondered if the climax was played first, whether it would mean that the film won’t be good. After the debate, the Speaker asked the respective Ministers to make the new announcements at first while moving the demands for grants.