An �unhealthy trend\' in Assembly

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The overuse of the provision for raising a �point of order to intervene in a discussion on the floor of the Assembly came in for discussion during its session on Thursday.

Senior legislator Aryadan Mohammed brought up the issue and said that an unhealthy tendency was being noticed in the Assembly nowadays.

Whenever a member who had the mike refused to yield to a request from another member for permission to intervene in a discussion, the strategy of the latter was to say he or she has a �point of order to raise.

A �point of order is a provision to permit a member to bring to the notice of the Speaker something that is not in order, as per the rules and procedures of the House, stated by another member participating in a discussion.

Normal business of the House will be delayed unnecessarily when this provision is misused, Mr. Aryadan Mohammed said.

Speaker K. Radhakrishnan said he too favoured a detailed discussion on this tendency and permitted several other members to air their views on the subject. All of them were of the view that this tendency should be checked.

When they sought a ruling on the issue from the chair, Mr. Radhakrishnan said he would also have the subject discussed in the Business Advisory Committee of the House (which consisted of Ministers and senior members) so that members cooperation could be ensured from all sides. He said he would give his ruling after that.