Telangana Legislative Assembly Speaker G. Prasad Kumar has assured that he will take steps to allow the members, cutting across party lines, to raise issues of immediate public importance in the House.
The Speaker who took charge on Thursday said the Speaker’s role was crucial as well as complicated in a democracy and he would ensure that the aspirations of the people were fulfilled with debates on their issues. The House would hopefully witness people centric debates in the coming days, Mr. Prasad Kumar said, adding that he would strive to ensure that issues of public importance were thoroughly discussed so that solutions were evolved for them.
Mr. Prasad Kumar reminded that the Telangana Legislative Assembly was a role model for other States in the country and exhorted the members to ensure that the reputation was maintained. Earlier, Mr. Prasad Kumar was invited to occupy the chair by Pro-tem Speaker Akbaruddin Owaisi. He was conducted to the Speaker Podium by Chief Minister and Leader of the House A. Revanth Reddy, his deputy Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Legislative Affairs Minister D. Sridhar Babu and BRS member K.T. Rama Rao among others.
In his message, the Chief Minister thanked all the members who cooperated in the unanimous election of the Speaker setting a good tradition. The members should cooperate in the conduct of the business with the same spirit. Mr. Prasad Kumar, the Chief Minister said, hailed from Vikarabad which was known for its medical facilities and would play a crucial role in eliminating the ills plaguing the society. Coming from an extended ordinary family, Mr. Prasad knew how to handle responsibilities as head of the family and he would hopefully follow the same spirit in running the House.
Mr. Bhatti Vikramarka said Mr. Prasad Kumar understood the problems of people at the grass root level and this would help in ensuring meaningful debates on the problems faced by the people. Mr. Rama Rao said Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao favoured unanimous election of Mr. Prasad Kumar and hoped that the new Speaker would protect the values and traditions of the House as well as allowing members to raise problems of the people.
Several Ministers, MLAs from both ruling party as well as Opposition Benches spoke on the occasion. Over a dozen MLAs, except for the BRS president, who did not take oath on December 9 took oath of office and secrecy.
