‘Lift the standards of legislative debate’

Venkaiah, Chandrababu lament declining legislative standards, conduct. Emphasising the need to uphold the rule of law, he said the Opposition and Treasury benches should utilise the legislature to solve people’s problems and work together for the development of the cash-strapped State.

Telugu Desam and YSR Congress Party legislators at the Orientation Session for the new Andhra Pradesh legislators in Hyderabad on Friday . Photo: P.V. SIVAKUMAR

Expressing concern over the decline in the image of legislatures, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday called for enhancing the standards of debate and conduct.

At the inaugural session of a two-day orientation programme for legislators of Andhra Pradesh here, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu said breaking mikes or tearing papers would only lower the image of the legislators. If the legislature was not allowed to function, the losers would be the House, the people and the Opposition in particular.

The Union Minister also expressed concern over the decrease in the number of working days of legislatures. While Parliament meets for about 89 working days a year, most State legislatures work for only 20-30 days.

The primary role of legislatures was to frame laws, he said, and it was because of their ineffectiveness that judicial activism had come to the fore, with there being several instances of the courts deciding on subjects that are in the domain of the legislature and executive.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said that while a good movie would be watched many times over, and a good TV advertisement 2-3 times, people prefer not to watch Assembly proceedings. Children would now rather become IAS or IPS officers or teachers, and not politicians. Referring to a recent controversial remark made by a Trinamool Congress MP, the CM said legislators should ensure they do not rouse passions or provoke people.

Emphasising the need to uphold the rule of law, he said the Opposition and Treasury benches should utilise the legislature to solve people’s problems and work together for the development of the cash-strapped State.

Speakerspeak

State Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao said that as many as 98 of the 175 MLAs were first-time legislators and emphasised the need for legislators to have a proper understanding of the rules and procedures.

Former Lok Sabha Secretary-General Subhash Kashyap said that while the first Lok Sabha devoted 50 per cent of the time for law-making, it had come down to 12-20 per cent in the last three Lok Sabhas. Legislatures had emerged as multifunctional institutions today and forums for the ventilation of people’s grievances and their redress. He said there was no reason to be unduly worried about current scenario and the unfortunate scenes in some legislatures were only a passing phase.