Parliament attack fallout: Host of security measures announced for West Bengal Assembly

Kolkata: In the wake of the massive security breach in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay, on Thursday, announced a host of new security measures within the Assembly premises when the House is in session.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, the Speaker said that the first restriction is for the legislators, who will have to park their vehicles outside the Assembly premises from now on.

Second, the legislators will now have to enter the Assembly premises from the north gate only and it will be mandatory for all of them to carry their MLA identity cards with them at all times during the session.

Restrictions will also be imposed on visitors who come to the Assembly for various purposes, informed the Speaker. They will now have to enter the Assembly premises through the western gate only.

At the point of entrance their photographs will be clicked and attached to their visitors’ identity cards. They will also have to submit their government-provided identity and address proof before entering the Assembly premises.

At the same time, the deployment of security personnel within the Assembly premises will also be increased whenever the House is in session.

If necessary, shifts will be introduced for the security personnel within the Assembly premises during that period.

These decisions were taken after a crucial meeting chaired by the Speaker on the matter on Thursday afternoon.

“We are quite shocked at the breach of the security in the Parliament on Wednesday. So we will have to be careful that breach of security does not happen here as well. So we convened a meeting in the matter and took these decisions,” the Speaker said.