Constant disruptions and deadlocks during legislative assembly are not conducive to democracy: Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said constant disruptions and planned deadlocks in the legislature are not conducive to the country’s democracy. “When the House is disrupted, the greatest harm is suffered by the citizen whose problem was to be discussed,” he added.

He stated that the need of the hour is to strengthen the culture of discussion and dialogue, not disruption.

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Mr. Birla was addressing a press conference after speaking at the concluding session of the 86th All India Presiding Officers’ Conference held at the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Building, Lucknow. The conference was held from January 19 to 21. He said to make the country’s legislatures more effective, responsive, and public-friendly, a Legislative Index will be created to promote healthy competition among legislatures across the country.

He emphasized that it is essential that state legislatures meet for a minimum of 30 days a year to provide an effective platform for public expectations and aspirations. He said in a democracy, the people are supreme, and public representatives are accountable not only during elections, but every day and every moment.

Highlighting the role of presiding officers, Mr. Birla said they are not just those who conduct proceedings, but are the guardians of the Constitution and protectors of democratic norms. Their impartiality, sensitivity, and firmness determine the direction of the House.

The conference passed six important resolutions aimed at achieving a “Vikshit Bharat” by 2047. These include strengthening the role of legislatures, ensuring minimum number of meetings of state legislative bodies, extensive use of technology in legislative work, promoting participatory governance, capacity building through digital tools, and developing a National Legislative Index.

He said that the resolutions passed during the conference stated that the presiding officers of all legislative bodies in India would rededicate themselves to further strengthening the functioning of their respective legislatures, so as to make a concrete contribution to achieving the goal of a ‘Vikshit Bharat @ 2047’.

He said that emphasis was placed on the creative and effective use of time and resources available for legislative work, thereby making democratic institutions more accountable to the public.

He said that another resolution decided to continuously strengthen the use of technology to facilitate legislative work. This aims to establish effective communication between the public and their representatives and ensure meaningful participatory governance.

He informed that the conference also agreed to build the capacity of legislators and legislative bodies through digital tools, so that the lawmaking process becomes more transparent, efficient, and modern.

The Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Harivansh, the Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Manvendra Singh, the Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly SatishMahana, and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath also expressed their views in the closing session.