The fourth session of the 14th Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh will commence on Tuesday at Dharamshala in Kangra district.

Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania told mediapersons at Dharmashala on Monday that the winter session aims at surpassing the highest productivity of 106 per cent which was witnessed in the Monsoon session.

‘’The monsoon session to commence from December 19, will end on December 23 and there will be five sittings,’’ he said.

He said that so far 471 questions have been received, including 348 starred and 123 unstarred questions (395 online and 76 offline), which have been sent to the state government for further action as per the rules.

Besides the questions, four notices under Rule 62, one notice under Rule 101 and 12 notices under Rule 130 (including two postponed notices from the previous session) and one notice under Rule 324 have been received by the members of the legislative Assembly, which have also been sent to the state government for further action, he added.

The information related to the questions received from the members is mainly about the pathetic condition of roads, approved DPRs of roads, upgradation of colleges, schools, health institutions in the state and filling up of vacant posts in various departments and tourism.

The members have also highlighted the menace of drug abuse among the youth and displaced people from Pong Dam besides main issues related to their respective constituencies through questions, Pathania stated.

The last Monsoon session witnessed proceedings that lasted for around 36 hours and its productivity was 106 per cent, he said, adding that he was hopeful that the productivity will surpass the previous record.

Pathania said the Legislative Assembly Secretariat was alert and fully prepared to organise the session and a review meeting with senior officials of Himachal Pradesh Government regarding the same has already been held.

To ensure smooth functioning of the session, Pathania called an all-party meeting which was attended by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harsh Vardhan Chauhan, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mohan Lal Brakta, MLAs Sukh Ram Chaudhary, K L Thakur and Hoshyar Singh.

The Speaker appealed to the members of both the ruling and opposition to hold meaningful discussion in the House and raise issues relevant in the interest of the public.