NC to lead 4 House Committees, BJP 2

SRINAGAR — The Speaker of the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Wednesday constituted nine House Committees, including three financial panels, to discharge various functions as per the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the J&K Assembly.

Details available with the news agency KNO reveal that Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather today constituted nine House Committees to perform different functions.

According to the details, MLAs from the ruling National Conference (NC)-led alliance will chair six committees, while opposition members will head the remaining three.

Among the ruling coalition, NC MLAs have been appointed as chairpersons of four committees, with Congress and CPI (M) securing leadership of one panel each.

From the opposition camp, BJP legislators will lead two committees, while the Peoples Conference (PC) will chair one.

According to details, the Speaker constituted Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Estimates Committee, Public Undertaking Committee, Committee on Environment, Committee on Subordinate Legislation, Committee on Government Assurances, Committee on Privileges, Committee on Petitions and Committee of Ethics.

These committees would be respectively headed by Sham Lal Sharma (BJP), Shamima Firdous (NC), Ali Muhammad Sagar (NC), Muhammad Yosouf Tarigami (CPI-M), Justice Hasnain Masoodi (NC), Sajad Gani Lone (PC), Peerzada Farooq Ahmad Shah (NC), Nizamuddin Bhat (Congress) and Surjeet Singh Slathia (BJP).

On the other hand, independent MLAs and PDP legislators have not been assigned leadership roles in any committee, as all of them are serving their first term in the Assembly.

J&K Assembly has six independent MLAs and three from PDP.

According to details, Justice (Retd.) Hasnain Masoodi and Peerzada Farooq Ahmad Shah are the only two first-time legislators appointed as committee heads.

Sources said that they have been nominated as heads of the committees on the basis of their extensive experience in the judiciary and administration, respectively.

Leader of Opposition and firebrand BJP leader, Sunil Sharma, is not part of any House Committee. Sharma had earlier recused himself from the committee constituted by the Speaker to examine the issue of salaries of MLAs.