NEW DELHI, Oct 15 - The proposed Upper House in Assam Assembly is finally out of cold storage, with four top NDA Ministers holding deliberations on the State Government�s proposal, along with that of Rajasthan.
Assam has been demanding the Legislative Assembly Council to accommodate unrepresented communities.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Union Law Minister V Sadananda Gowda held an hourlong meeting on the proposals of the two State governments but no decision has been taken. The Ministers will meet again to carry forward the discussion process, official sources said.
While favouring the creation of Legislative Council, the Assam Government reasoned that an Upper House will provide a better opportunity for people�s participation in governance and decision-making.
The setting up of Legislative Councils in States has to be approved by an Act of Parliament. In 2013, Assam and Rajasthan Assemblies adopted resolutions for creation of Legislative Councils with 42 and 66 members respectively.
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on the proposal for setting up of Legislative Councils in Assam and Rajasthan had recommended that the Central Government should evolve a national policy for the creation of an Upper House in State legislatures so that it is not abolished by the incumbent government.
The standing committee report supported the proposal to set up the Upper House in �the larger public interest�. It noted that most political parties in the two States supported the setting up of Legislative Councils.
Several social organisations also argued that members of various communities and ethnic groups, which could not be sent to the Assembly, could be accommodated in the Council for fair representation.
