New Delhi: Expressing concern over the overshadowing of debates and discussions by rising disruption and confrontation in the Parliament, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu has said people especially the youth are justifiably getting impatient and disillusioned with the way democratic institutions are functioning.
Naidu also urged the members to put an end to such unpleasant situations in the House in order to sustain the credibility of the parliamentary institutions in public esteem. He stressed that discipline, dignity and decorum in the House are the sine qua non of parliamentary institutions.
Addressing the two-day orientation programme for newly elected members on Friday, Naidu advised the members to be regular in attending the Parliament and watch keenly the way senior parliamentarians articulate themselves and put their views in a very organised manner.
He stressed that adversarial politics should not be allowed to adversely affect the functioning of the Parliament and state legislatures and differences should be resolved through debate and discussions by cultivating the ability to understand the other’s point of view and not necessarily to agree with it.
Highlighting the motto of ‘perform, reform and transform’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he stated that concerted efforts made by him to effectively enhance the functioning of the House has resulted in almost doubling of the productivity of the House in the last eight sessions. He requested the new members to make a conscious choice either to carry forward this positive trend and become change agents or become obstructionists.
While urging the members to speak in their native language, Naidu said that initiative has been taken to make the simultaneous interpretation facility available in all 22 scheduled languages that has increased the use of mother tongue in the proceedings of the House.
He stressed that the privilege of freedom of speech enjoyed by members in Parliament does not give unrestricted freedom to say anything against any individual or to use defamatory or indecent or undignified or unparliamentary words. Naidu urged all the members to conduct themselves in a decent and dignified manner in the House or outside it and set an example to others by maintaining high standards of conduct.
(IANS)
