Chennai: Apparently as a fall-out of reports about members watching porn in the Karnataka and Gujarat Assemblies on their mobile phones, the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday banned cellphones within the premises of the House.
While making the announcement in the Assembly, Speaker D Jayakumar said under Rule 87 sub-section (10) of the Tamil Nadu Assembly's General Rules of Procedure, all ministers, MLAs, government officials, and media representatives covering proceedings of the House and workers of the House should not bring their mobile phones inside the Assembly hall.
However, all members will be given smart cards worth Rs 100 through the BSNL and they can make calls using the smart pay phones installed in the east and west corridors of the House, rest rooms for the MLAs, chambers of the DMK, and the communist parties and the upper gallery for the media.
The members can retain their mobile phones in the pigeon hole lockers set up in the lobby of the House, allotted as per the numbers of their seats. The smart cards will be valid for a year and they can avail a talk-time worth Rs 70 through the cards.
Beyond this limit, the members have to re-charge the cards on their own, the Speaker added.
Prior to the incidents in Karnataka and Gujarat Assemblies, DMK member TRB Raja, a first-time member of the House, was suspended for 10 days for recording the proceedings of the House on September 5, 2011, when there were some noisy scenes in the Assembly.
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