New Delhi, Feb 22 (Inditop.com) DMK MPs, led by union Ministers A. Raja and Dayanidhi Maran, complained to Speaker Meira Kumar about the lack of a simultaneous English translation of President Pratibha Patil’s address in Hindi to the joint session of parliament Monday.
“There was no simultaneous translation (in English),” Maran told IANS when asked about the complaint.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MP from Kerala A. Sampath said the copies of the president’s speech, both in English and Hindi, were not made available in the central hall.
“Normally, when the president addresses a joint session, the English and Hindi version of the speech is made available at the MPs table in the central hall. But this time, it was not done. We collected it from the counter later,” Sampath said.
The copy of the president’s address was later laid on the table of Lok Sabha when the lower house met at 12.30 p.m. to make obituary references to five former MPs and former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu.
CPI-M MP from Kerala, M.B. Rajesh said Vice President Hamid Ansari only read the beginning and ending parts of the president’s speech.
“It is a serious matter that there was no simultaneous translation,” said DMK’s T.K.S. Elangovan.
