TN Assembly Speaker warns officials as House raises concern over their absence

CHENNAI: Speaker M Appavu on Thursday warned that action would be taken against bureaucrats for their absence from the Assembly session proceedings.

The Speaker was responding to the issue raised by the Leader of the House, Duraimurugan, who pointed out that the officials skipped the House proceedings.

The senior DMK minister said that such an occurrence should not be repeated.

Legislators cutting across party lines toed the line and voiced their displeasure over the empty gallery designated for senior bureaucrats. The issue was raised towards the end of the second Session in the House. CPI member K Marimuthu was speaking in the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s speech when this issue was brought to the attention of the House.

Reflecting the members' sentiments, Duraimurugan stated that the House is ‘supreme’ and that its members should be respected. “Even a single rupee spent from the State exchequer must be approved by this House. The officials must respect the House and its members. They should be present when the session is in progress,” said Duraimurugan. Legislators from AIADMK and the DMK’s allies pointed to the empty gallery reserved for IAS officers around 2.20 pm.

The Speaker explained, stating that relevant department officials would be present during the demand for grants. He added that officials had been deputed to monitor the session and take notes. However, he assured the officials would be instructed to attend the House soon.

Around 2.23 pm, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition RB Udhayakumar raised the issue again, pointing out that despite the Speaker’s directive, no official had arrived. He urged the Speaker to postpone the session until the officials returned. The Speaker, however, cut Udhayakumar short and reiterated that action would be taken against the officials.

At 2.30 pm, one official arrived, followed by five others later.