Discuss & debate, But don't disrupt: Venkaiah

• Union Minister advises legislators how to behave in House
• Naidu called upon the MLAs to imbibe the qualities of Lord Rama who always appeared with a smiling face
• Former Secretary General to Lok Sabha Subhash C Kashyap regrets that little time is devoted to enactment of laws

Hyderabad: Discuss, debate and decide, but don't disrupt should be the objective of the legislators or else the institution called the legislature will get weakened, said Union Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu.

Addressing the orientation programme for AP legislators here on Friday, the Union Minister expressed concern over drop in the number of working days in the Assemblies during past few years.

He said of late the prestige of the legislatures had taken a beating. The legislators have been spending more time in tearing the papers and breaking the mikes, instead of discussing and debating any issue. The law makers are spending more time in such activities, instead of rising to the occasion and enhancing the standard of debate and enhancing the prestige of the legislatures

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Recalling what his political gurus like Tenneti Viswanatham and others taught him, he said the first lesson a legislator should learn is to be present in the House from beginning to the end. They should also spend quality time in library and make it a habit to go through the speeches of legendary Parliamentarians, so that they know who spoke how on certain important issues.

Quoting L K Advani, Naidu said, “Advaniji always says more than ideology, ideal behaviour is important. The language, behaviour on the floor of the House reflects our culture. The practice of threatening each other should be abandoned,” he said.

He said the opposition members, in particular, have greater responsibility in running the legislature. Any opposition should give some time for the government before taking on them. The opposition should expose the government's omissions and commissions through debates and other forms and the ruling party should learn to give space to the opposition view point, he added.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu called upon the members of the State legislature to see that people once again start looking at them with respect.

Naidu, in his inaugural speech, said the image of a politician had taken a severe beating. “Ask any student what he would like to become after he completes his education, they mention about all professions except politics. They feel it is a profession of crooks,” Naidu called upon the MLAs to imbibe the qualities of Lord Rama who always appeared with a smiling face.The ugly behavior of legislators in the recent past had made people hate politicians and they were not willing to watch the proceedings live. “See the TRP ratings of Assembly proceedings, it is lowest,” he said.

Former Secretary General to Lok Sabha Subhash C Kashyap on Friday expressed dismay over the drastic fall in time devoted to the enactment of legislations in the Parliament and the Assemblies.

He said during early days after the independence, more than 50 per cent of the time was being dedicated to the enactment of new laws through a healthy debate in the Parliament. But now the legislative bodies have turned into centres of clashes. In the previous three Lok Sabhas, only 12 to 20 per cent of the time was devoted to bring in new laws and the rest of the time was spent fighting each other by treasury and opposition benches.

Asserting the need to educate the new members about the procedures and rules to be followed in the legislatures, he said constant study of the rules would make the members knowledgeable.

The Constitutional expert also pointed out that not a single private bill was adopted in the Parliament from 1970 which clearly showed the lack of interest in addressing the people’s issues among the members. The adoption of 14 private bills before 1970 was a stark example how the then elected members were serious about issues.