BENGALURU: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday expressed concern over legislatures becoming a platform for political blame games, and gave a call to all political parties to make better use of legislature and to debate the issues of the people.
He was speaking after inaugurating the four-day 11th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) India Region Conference, with the theme ‘Debates and Discussions in Houses of Legislature: Building people’s trust, Meeting people’s aspirations’, on the grand steps of the Vidhana Soudha. “People send us to legislature with aspirations that their issues and problems will be debated, and the voice of the last man is heard. The Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Vidhana Sabha are meant for discussion of issues and challenges of the future. It is a matter of concern that legislatures are turning into a platform for allegations and counter-allegations. Parties should come to the House keeping political vengeance aside,” he stated.
Birla noted that agreement and disagreement over issues and ideology could be part of the debate. “There were differences of opinion in the Constitution Draft Committee too, which was headed by Dr BR Ambedkar. Because of the deliberations, we could get a formidable Constitution, which is inclusive and visionary, and India emerged as the world’s strongest democracy,” he remarked.
He suggested the use of Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence to have one platform for Central and state legislatures to reach out to the people, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also suggested. He was referring to adapting the NeVA (National e-Vidhan Application), developed by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to digitise legislative proceedings.
He cautioned that disruptions, stalemates and repeated adjournments only hurt democracy and erode public trust. On the declining number of legislature sittings, limited time for debate and frequent disruptions, Birla stressed the need to strengthen India’s culture of debate.
“The people of India do not expect noise; they expect solutions. Constructive debate leads to better laws, better laws ensure effective governance, and effective governance strengthens people’s trust,” he said.
Deputy Chairman in the Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh regretted that presiding officers had to spend more time keeping the House in order than running the business.
“When there was no infrastructure, debates were enriching as members used to conduct themselves... India has enormous potential to emerge as an economic power, and at a time of global uncertainty, stability is the most-valued currency,” Singh remarked.
CM Siddaramaiah observed that “democracy is endangered less by external enemies and more by its inner corrosion, when debate is replaced by despotism, when dialogue becomes monologue, and when legislatures turn into instruments of partisanship rather than arenas of the common good”.
“Public trust depends not on unanimity, but on authenticity, on whether citizens feel their voices, however diverse, find genuine echo within the halls of their legislatures. The ability to listen, disagree, and yet build consensus is the highest test of parliamentary maturity,” he stated. Assembly Speaker UT Khader, Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani, Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti, DCM DK Shivakumar, and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil were present.