Guidelines to be framed for inviting chief guests to govt functions, fests

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today said that a committee would be constituted to lay down exhaustive guidelines as to who all could be invited as chief guest at state, district and other important functions and festivals. Sundernagar legislator Rakesh Jamwal raised the issue during the Zero Hour in the Vidhan Sabha.

Jamwal said, “Despite Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s assurance that defeated MLAs will not be invited as chief guest at district level and other important functions and festivals, they are being invited as such at the district level Nalwari festival in Bilaspur district.”

Agnihotri said, “The report of the committee will be placed before the Cabinet for approval so that there is no dispute about who can be invited as chief guest.”

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Pathania said that there was need to lay down guidelines to avoid controversy and the issue would be placed before the Protocol Committee of the Assembly. He added that he would ensure that there was no dispute on the issue associated with the prestige of the institution of MLAs.

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur raised the issue of deaths, especially of youth, due to drowning. He said, “Efforts must be made to identify and block access to routes leading to the Beas on which hydroelectric power projects like the Pandoh dam and the Larji dam are located, where drowning cases occur frequently.” He added that incidents of drowning take place more during the summer when the youth wish to have a bath in rivers, which could be fatal. Agnihotri assured the House that all such vulnerable points would be identified and sealed to prevent mishaps.

Thakur said that two students from his Seraj Assembly constituency were washed away while they were having a bath in a nullah along the Larji dam yesterday. “The bodies of the two missing boys were recovered on Friday,” he added. The Speaker said that steps should be taken to educate, alert and caution both tourists and locals against the dangers of being swept away by streams and rivulets.

Cabinet’s approval

The report of the committee will be placed before the Cabinet for approval so that there is no dispute about who can be invited as chief guest. - Mukesh Agnihotri, Deputy Chief Minister