‘DETERIORATING QUALITY’ OF WORK IN LEGISLATURES HAS VP WORRIED

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the “deteriorating functioning of legislatures”, vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu, who is also chairman of the Rajya Sabha, said on Sunday it was eroding the credibility of elected representatives.

Speaking at the valedictory session of the first National Legislators Conference in the capital, Naidu commented on the working of legislatures saying the number of days legislators meet is decreasing while time for deliberation and the number of legislations passed are steadily dwindling.

He added that the quality of debate is declining and disruption of proceedings has come to replace norms of deliberations in Parliament.

Naidu’s comments come after Opposition protests washed out the first week’s proceedings of the post-recess budget session.

The vice-president asked legislators to introspect on the work done by them every day. He also suggested that legislators be regular and punctual.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who also spoke at the event, observed that a legislator’s credibility emanates from his/her conduct and the parameter for judging his/her credibility is ‘peer recognition’, both inside and outside the House. As such, it is imperative that they imbibe the norms of parliamentary decency and decorum for the successful working of democracy, Jaitley said.

He also urged legislators to fortify their knowledge of the country’s economy.

Referring to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as an example of Centre-State coordination, he emphasised the need of exploring the feasibility of such an effective harmony in other areas.