Karnataka Assembly Speaker UT Khader is of the view that young MLAs need to participate more in healthy debates in the House, irrespective of which party or ideology they belong to. And for that, they need to be trained through a School of Governance. He also feels that although there should be no compromise with the Vidhana Soudha security, people should be allowed inside. “Without people, there is no Vidhana Soudha and we must allow them,” the Speaker told The New Sunday Express editors and staff during an interaction. Excerpts.
You have been an active politician, and all of a sudden, you were made Speaker of the Assembly. How do you look at it?
Initially, it was difficult. Before entering politics, I was into social work, and in college, I was a student leader. I have always been among people. When they offered me the Speaker’s post, my condition was I should not be stopped from being among people. When my people learnt that I was made Speaker, they started hesitating to come near me. But I visited my constituency the next day, to make them feel that I was still there.
A workshop was conducted for the first time MLAs after you took over as Speaker. How useful was it?
As a Speaker, it was my duty to train the new MLAs. How many people take this forward is left to them. But I am seeing many of them confidently taking part in discussions during the proceedings in Assembly. Many first-time MLAs wanted to speak, but were hesitant. Even I faced the same issue, but I took MLA Dhruvanarayana’s help. He used to guide me. Giving training or guidance will change them. Youngsters have knowledge and good suggestions can come from them. If we do not listen to them, it is a loss to the state. Now with the budget session ahead, I am planning one-day of training for them to discuss the budget.
Junior MLAs learn from their seniors, but many seniors behave unruly in the house, what do you have to say?
In the House, there are many well-mannered and some lazy MLAs too. As a student and fresher to the house, we have to look up to the good ones. That is the reason, we should start a School of Governance to train young leaders. Let them have their ideology, but proper training will make them successful. There is no institute to train political leaders. We will start such an institute at the earliest. It will be a one-year course, including six months of theory and the remaining six months, they can work with leaders to get hands-on experience. They can contest any polls—right from Panchayat to Parliament. We will start such an institute in my constituency.
You suspended ten MLAs of the BJP…
Yes, it has sent a message. The fear will be there. There should be arguments, discussions and protests, which are part of democracy. But we need to put a full stop to tearing papers and copies of the bills. Even if the ruling party members had done this, I would have suspended them.
How do you respond to criticism on inviting religious leaders to give lectures to new MLAs during the workshop?
People question everything. History does not remember those who questioned, but remembers those who did the work. The new MLAs who were there for training represented all ideologies. If any speaker comes there, they will give good messages. I had invited Veerendra Heggade of Dharmasthala. He was the one who gave place for training. He is a great man who has done a wonderful job for the state and the country. He is also a Rajya Sabha member (nominated by BJP). If he is coming to talk to 70 MLAs, it is an honour for us. Why should we have enmity against anyone?
What do you have to say about communal tension in coastal Karnataka?
The right-wing ideology is over 100 years old. So is the Congress. In the coastal belt, it is not because of hatred, but due to fear. This should go. When you see the coastal belt from far, it looks different. But it is one of the best places where people live in harmony.
As a Speaker what are the changes you want to see in the House?
I wish to keep Vidhana Soudha, which is visited by thousands of people every day, clean and have given instructions. Also, I wish to start the assembly at 9 am, instead of starting it after 11.30 am as in no time we adjourn for lunch and the discussions get postponed to late evening when the MLAs who come prepared lose interest and go out. MLAs should actively take part in the assembly and that is why he is elected. This will happen if he is given an opportunity. So I wish to start the session early by 9 am, which I feel will be productive.
We see that many government officials who are supposed to take part in the session do not attend. Will you send instructions to them?
The efficiency of the government and its performance directly depends on the active participation of government officials. Officers should have the fear of the government. If the Chief Minister and other Ministers can attend, then what is stopping the officials from attending? If they do not attend, we will ask the government to take action against such officials.
There was a proposal to digitise government documents. What is the status?
Yes that proposal is there, and we do not wish to rush because some of the states which went ahead with the digitisation of documents are not able to practically use it. Each state has its own rules. Some states are bicameral, while others are not. We do not want to do this in a hurry just because the Union government is supporting this digitisation initiative with funds.
What is the status of security arrangements in the House, as we saw a person enter the assembly, while we see common people waiting to enter Vidhana Soudha?
We are taking steps to avoid such instances of security breaches. We are checking advanced security models that will be monitored by the police department. Also, security doesn’t mean we should keep people away from Vidhana Soudha. Without people, there is no Vidhana Soudha. We must allow them. Just that we should have the data of all those who enter and exit and monitor them. Common people across the state visit Vidhana Soudha for various reasons. They come early in the morning and collect the visitor slips. As the current system allows them to enter only after 3 pm, they are made to wait. With all the security systems, why can’t common people be allowed inside Vidhana Soudha? This needs coordination by different departments, and the government has to bring in a system for this.
Should anti-defection law need any amendments? What is your suggestion?
There were many amendments made to the anti-defection law. However, a way is found to evade it. Earlier, politicians listened to their consciousness and maintained sanctity, which is not there anymore. In my opinion, if we have to stop politicians from hopping, the one who gets elected from a party and defecting to another, his (or her) membership should be cancelled and (that member) should not be allowed to contest elections for a few years.
What is your opinion on women’s reservation in the assembly?
No country can go forward without considering the women, who are fifty per cent of the population. They have to be involved in every system. I welcome women’s reservations in the Assembly. In the future, more women will be part of the cabinet. In terms of women’s reservations, we are much ahead of other countries.
Do you agree that in Assembly, the discussion on bills and important subjects do not get prominence and the quality of debates has come down?
Yes. Sometimes good discussion takes place. But unwanted controversial and trivial issues are raised and unfortunately, such issues get reported. There is a feeling among representatives that only if they do some ‘drama’, it will be highlighted. They think a good discussion for an hour will not get prominence whereas an unwanted thing can be a box item on paper. There was an incident where a leader removed his shirt saying the media will report it.
Students also come to see the proceedings…
In Belagavi we have a record that about 20,000 students had witnessed the session. In Bengaluru, we will make the provision. Anyone who wants to attend the session can contact our office. We want to tell you that for students who are inconvenienced, like waiting since 8 am to watch the session, seating arrangements will be made. I have asked officials to put carpet at a banquet hall. We want every section of society to be a part of Vidhana Soudha. I want pourakarmikas, farmers, daily wage workers, transgenders and others to come to Vidhana Soudha. Seats will be reserved accordingly. Every society will be involved this time during the session.
Any suggestion that you have received so that the conduct is improved during the session?
Whatever I suggest and say is the reflection of suggestions given by the people. People suggested cleanliness in Vidhana Soudha. I am implementing the things which are suggested by people. Even when I was a minister, most of the work I did was based on the good suggestions given by people. The government schemes that were implemented when I was a minister were the suggestions of people, and no government officials were involved at that time.
There is a general perception that bills that are discussed or passed are not understood by the MLAs. Secondly, do discussions on the same not take place in the House?
Many times the discussions get deviated and when someone gets a chance, they do not discuss. When I was an MLA, I wanted to participate in the debate on Bills, but when the copies of the Bills are given, most of the time we will not be able to understand them. When you read the bill, you will never be able to understand it. Officers will only tell good things about it and not speak bad about it as they are the ones who prepare the bills. Then we will have to talk to people concerned who are likely to be impacted by the bill to know their impact. Based on their suggestions, we will then have to come back and discuss. Most of the time first-time MLAs and a few others who do not understand, will not debate. Hence, I decided that only three days after tabling it, the bill would be taken up for discussion. We have deputed an officer in my office to explain the pros and cons of bills tabled in the house, but unfortunately, not even one MLA has consulted the officer. To motivate MLAs to participate in the discussion, we wanted to make a committee to give awards to MLAs performing better during sessions.
Do you think bills need to be simplified?
Yes. I would suggest, even if they cannot simplify the bills, let them give a detailed summary explaining it. Since only four to five subjects will be in the bill, it will not be difficult to make a summary. This will help in better participation in the assembly. I will suggest this.
Balabrooie’s Guest House will be converted into a legislators’ club…
MLAs come from far away, they come to Vidhana Soudha and after work, they don’t have a place to sit. Ruling party MLAs will come and sit in the minister’s office for some time, but where will the opposition MLAs go? If four or five MLAs have to discuss, they don’t have a place. Legislature House is for the public, MLAs cannot sit and discuss there. If there is a Legislature Club, MLAs coming from far away can stay, relax, play sports, and read. We have decided to make a Legislature Institute where MLAs can conduct conferences. There will be a lounge for women. Balabroorie is a historical and prestigious place. In the last 15 years we do not know who sits there, or how it is being used. Painting and cleaning were not done, and some items were simply dumped. Who came here, no one knew. Now, when we take it up, there will be security for the building. Strictly no damage or major modification work will be done on the building and there will be accountability.
What is the challenge as a speaker before you?
My challenge and duty is to ensure healthy discussion takes place and maximum time is devoted to good debates. My primary duty is to give confidence to opposition MLAs as they will feel inferior for not being in power. I don’t call them ‘ruling’ and ‘opposition’ MLAs, I would like to call them ‘Majority’ and ‘Minority’ and I am with the ‘Minority MLAs’ (the opposition).