Will Himachal Pradesh Host the North-zone Lawmakers’ Summit in Dharamsala?

Shimla, June 20 (NationPress) The Speaker of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, has formally invited Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu to attend the inaugural ceremony of the annual conference for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, India region Zone II, set to take place from June 30 to July 1 in Dharamsala, the state's winter capital located in Kangra district.

Speaker Pathania shared that this important conference will welcome delegates from Zone II, which encompasses Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir.

Notable attendees will include the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, and various Speakers and Deputy Speakers of state Legislative Assemblies, alongside Leaders of the Opposition, Chief Whips, and MLAs from member states.

Additionally, Speakers from Karnataka, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Telangana are invited as special guests.

Speaker Pathania emphasized that the conference is designed to foster significant discussions regarding legislative processes, democratic governance, and regional collaboration.

This platform aims to facilitate the sharing of best practices and is crucial for enhancing parliamentary institutions nationwide.

In a historic move, Himachal Pradesh was the first state to implement paperless e-working in its assemblies in 2014 through the launch of the Rs 8.12 crore e-Vidhan Sabha project initiated by the Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

The project, spearheaded by then Speaker B.B.L. Butail, has successfully saved an estimated Rs 15 crore annually.

His proposal stemmed from concerns about the significant financial burden of maintaining the grand second Assembly building located in Dharamsala, which is approximately 250 km from the state capital.

The Winter Session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly has been traditionally held in Dharamsala since 2005, often viewed as a political maneuver rather than a legislative necessity.

The inaugural Winter Session outside Shimla took place at the Government Degree College in that year, an effort by the previous Congress government to appeal to the electorate in the lower hills.

The Congress government also initiated the construction of a substantial Assembly building in Tapovan, on the outskirts of Dharamsala, which hosts the Winter Sessions.

The building complex, occupying a 1.6-acre site, had a construction cost of Rs 7-8 crore.

Following the BJP's assumption of state government in 2007, maintaining this practice became a political necessity. Both Congress and BJP administrations have continued the tradition of holding one session in Dharamsala.