Parliament presiding officers on Tuesday regretted that the dignity of legislatures have come on a decline nowadays.
While Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said Parliament and legislatures have turned into “hotbeds of disturbance” and “fast surging into irrelevance”, leaving the country in a “cliff-hanger-like” situation, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressed concern over decline in dignity and decorum in legislatures.
Addressing the valedictory session of the ninth India Region Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Dhankar also cautioned against the doling out of freebies by political parties and called on elected representatives to check such instances of misgovernance.
Presiding Officers of 23 States and Union Territories participated in the Conference. Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan also graced the occasion.Dhankhar, also Chairman RÃ jya Sabha, said if parliamentarians, representatives of the people don't occupy public space in Parliament, other people will occupy it outside.
“The temples of democracy meant for dialogue, deliberation, debate and discussion are, these days, because of the legislators, representatives of people, hotbeds of disturbance and disruption,” he said.
The valedictory session of the two-day conference was attended by Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi.Dhankhar's remarks has come against the backdrop of the near wash-out of the monsoon session of Parliament earlier this month when crucial bills were passed by both the Houses amid repeated protests and disruption by opposition parties over the situation in Manipur.
Birla observed that dignity of legislatures depends on how law makers behave in the House to improve people’s lives.
In this regard, the lower house presiding officer highlighted the role of legislators in finding solutions to present and future challenges.
On the occasion Birla also noted that, in the changing context, we should use science and technology within our organizations effectively so that our organizations can bring effective results.