
Mizoram assembly monsoon session starts Aug 27 amid oppn concerns
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Aizawl: The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the state legislative assembly is scheduled to hold a meeting on Wednesday to chalk out a detailed calendar for the upcoming monsoon session of the legislature, state assembly secretariat officials said on Saturday.
The session, which will be the fifth session of the current ninth assembly, was summoned on last Wednesday by governor Gen Vijay Kumar Singh and is set to begin from Aug 27
The officials said they were yet to receive any information from the govt whether fresh bills or amendment bills and other govt official businesses will be submitted. "We have received an official resolution from the environment, forests & climate change department," an official said, adding that no questions have been received by the assembly secretariat till date.
The upcoming assembly session may be a stormy one, as opposition parties are up in arms over the acute scarcity of essential commodities, including fuel as well as shortage of building materials like cement and steel rods, resulting in stoppage of building constructions because of poor and dangerous road conditions along the National Highway 306 and 06 linking Assam with Aizawl.
One opposition member said they would also highlight issues such as the lack of development, decreasing trend of state goods and services tax (GST) collections and rising prices of essential commodities, which have been burning the pockets of consumers in the state.
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