imagine that you are a reporter and you have decided to interview M.L.A of your constituency
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Answer:
Explanation:
Why ask the MLA to fix your road?
As in the case of Members of Parliament (MP), the Constitution of India doesn’t explain the roles and responsibilities of a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA). Over time, this ambiguity has come to mean different things for different people.
For instance, until the 1990s when the third tier of government was formed, an MLA was associated with the smallest of issues in the constituency she was elected from. However, with the third tier of government (municipalities in urban areas and panchayats in rural areas) in place, MLAs should ideally be responsible for state-level issues. Devolution of power should empower municipalities and panchayats to deal with micro issues.
However, this is not so for a number of reasons. First, devolution of power to the third tier of government remains on paper in many cases. Then there are issues such as incapacity, lack of accountability and fund crunch. All this lead the citizen to believe that MLAs are the ones who can use their influence and wield power in their constituencies to ‘get things done.’
In the face of a systemic collapse on the ground, therefore, citizens turn to the next higher authority, i.e., MLAs (and sometimes even MPs) to get micro issues resolved. The MLAs in turn have to respond positively for fear of losing votes in the following election.
Over time, citizens have almost made it a norm to take the easy way of approaching MLAs to solve local issues, without even trying to reach out to the local government and its officials. This increases the burden on MLAs, distracting them from state-level issues which should be their focus.
What does the MLA do then?
This brings us to the role to be played by MLAs and the parameters on which they should be assessed by citizens. The primary responsibility of an MLA is closely tied to the smooth and efficient functioning of the state assembly. Therefore, it is crucial to keep in mind the three main functions of the assembly mentioned earlier in the article: to make laws, to hold the state executive accountable and sanction public expenditure.
As opposed to parliament, there is a serious problem with availability of data on the functioning of state assemblies. Karnataka is no exception. The website of the state assembly is user-unfriendly and is poorly maintained. This glaring on the business conducted inside the assembly makes it very difficult for organisations and citizens who would like to use it for research and educational purposes.
Despite this hurdle, there are a few basic functions of an MLA, including those from the ruling party/coalition. These are summarised below –
Answer:
imagine that you are a reporter and you have decided to interview the MLA of your constituency