DCs Will Listen Only To Ministers And Not To MLAs: Assam CM

"The MLAs do not decide what happens in a BDO or an SDO, it is the work of a minister," the CM asserted.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (PIC/Twitter account)

Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday spoke about the implementation of law in the state and stressed the role of an MLA being confined to framing laws while saying it is the duty of the ministers to implement them.

The chief minister said that District Collectors will listen only to ministers and not to MLAs till his government is in place. The minister made the big statement at an event where he unveiled a statue of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee at Barpeta Road on his 120th birth anniversary.

The CM was speaking at the event in the Sorbhog assembly constituency from where a leader of the opposition CPI(M) has won in the recently held election.  Earlier, an assembly constituency only had an MLA, but now it has a guardian minister too, he mentioned.

"MLAs will work in the assembly and frame the laws. If we do something bad, they can topple the government, though they cannot actually do so (this time) as we have a majority," Sarma said.

"The work of the MLA is to interpret the law in the Assembly. It is to look after the executive-legislative and judiciary matters. The work of the minister is to convert that law. The MLAs do not decide what happens in a BDO or an SDO, it is the work of a minister,” said the CM

"The CPI(M) MLA will decide in the assembly that 1,000 km of road has to be constructed. But ministers will decide which roads will be built. Till I am the chief minister, the state will run like this," Sarma added.

Speaking on the occasion, Sarma said, “Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, a great lover of Assam, introduced the study of Assamese language in Calcutta University where he became the youngest VC at the age of 33. We all in Assam should know about his contribution to the promotion of the Assamese language.”

The chief minister also asserted Mookerjee’s role in saving Assam from merging with East Pakistan (Bangladesh).