Legislation is serious business, Pranab tells politicians

Some of the Karnataka legislators, who have set a precedent of conducting themselves poorly on the floor of the House, had an earful to listen from President Pranab Mukherjee, on a day that marked history for the Karnataka legislature with the inauguration of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.

Mukherjee, addressing MLAs, MLCs and MPs from Karnataka in the Assembly Hall of the Soudha on Thursday, advised them to take the matter of legislation seriously and not to disrupt House proceedings, as had become the trend. Mukherjee was flanked by Governor H R Bhardwaj during the address.

“Our governance mechanisms must become citizen-friendly, quick and accountable. But a disturbing trend noticed nowadays is the frequent disruptions in the proceedings of the House. Disruption should never be allowed to be used as an effective Parliamentary intervention,” he said.

He rued that enough time was not being devoted towards legislation and urged legislators to reverse the trend. He said the House should be convened more frequently – at least 20 to 25 weeks in a year.

“It is a sad commentary, going by the recent trends which we are noticing, that the legitimate functioning of the legislative bodies is jeopardised by fewer number of days in the session,” he said.

Legislators should be careful in matters of legislation, money and finance, he added.
“The responsibility of ensuring that action of the government is in harmony with the wishes and interests of the people rests with elected representatives. It is through the effective discharge of their duties that the Rule of Law becomes a living reality of our society. Legislators must always remember that they act as trustees of the public and that they need to be exemplary models of good conduct and responsible behaviour. The primary responsibility of the State legislature is to enact laws for good governance and administration of the State.”

‘Sakaala’ hailed

He hailed Karnataka for its Sakaala programme and other initiatives, like unveiling the ‘Vision 2020’ document first, and for being in the forefront of Geographical Indication of products like Mysore silk, Mysore jasmine, Mysore sandal oil, Nanjangud banana, Channapattana toys, bidriware, Ilkal and Molakalmur sarees. Former chief ministers Dharam Singh, Veerappa Moily, H D Kumaraswamy, B S Yeddyurappa and D V Sadananda Gowda were the special invitees at the event.

Union ministers Mallikarjuna Kharge and K H Muniyappa were also present.