Naidu's speech in Vizag

Address of Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference on ‘Relations between Parliament and Media’ at Visakhapatnam on April 8, 2015.

Friends !

-At the outset, I extend a hearty welcome to the Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha Smt.Sumitra Mahajan ji and the delegates from different parts of the Commonwealth to the city of Visakhapatnam where my early world view was shaped. I have an emotional attachment with this city having lived crucial part of my life here as a student.

-As Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, it is indeed a matter of immense pleasure for me to participate in this Conference under the aegis of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

-I am aware of the relentless efforts of CPA towards promoting the cause of demorcarcy and strengthening of Parliamentary institutions and interlinkages among them.
-As we seek to present the relations between Parliament and Media in proper perspective, it may perhaps be appropriate to appreciate the vast canvass of democracy on which various institutions function and blossom.

-Historical evidence suggests that democracy is a manifestation of the advancement of human civilisation and it is the best form of human organisation to achieve shared goals.

-India plunging into democracy soon after Independence through universal adult franchise was nothing short of a revolution of sorts. Several pundits have forecast doom for our country insisting that given the poor levels of literacy and high level of poverty, democracy can not succeed in India and a certain chaos was round the corner.

-However, Indians have dispelled such forecasts of gloom voting in more and more numbers with every succeeding elections both for the Parliament and state assemblies.

-This glorious success of the experiment of modern democracy in our context has only reinforced that Indians are democratic by orientation and the same was manifest at the first available opportunity.

-It was again reiterated when the countrymen spoke their minds against the emergency in the 1977 elections. The message of that landmark verdict was that we may be poor and illiterate, but we fiercly defend our democratic rights.

-We are a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society. But we all celebrate this dance of democracy with all the passion once in every five years.

-This once in a five year opportunity of exercising the right to vote is our way of speaking for our aspirations and letting out our frustrations and looking forward with fresh hope over the next five years.

-I would even venture to say that it is the democracy that keeps our country united despite its multiple fault lines.

-I recall a recent comment by a senior American diplomat that the thriving democracy in India lets everyone express himself and thereby makes everyone feel involved and as a result there has been no recruitment in India for Islamic State movement that is rocking several parts of the globe currently.

-That is the power and effectiveness of democracy. Parliament, State Legislatures, Judiciary, Executive, Media, civil society organisations are all the fruits of democracy. Inturn, effective functioning of all these institutions further strengthen democracy.

-Effective functioning of democracy and its institutions require informed participation of the people who are the masters as well as custodians of democracy.

-The beauty of democracy is that it confers on people a charter of rights including a set of liberties that are needed for a dignified living.

-I am reminded of what the great Abraham Lincoln had said of democracy. He said and I quote : “Elections belong to the people…I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts”.

-This is where the role of media comes into focus. To inform the people of facts and truths and enable informed participation of the people in addressing any challenge before the nation.

-Parliament in its primary function of making laws for the country should reflect and address the concerns of the people while coming out with necessary laws as rememdies.

-Certain policy initiatives like a new set of economic reforms may be the right remedies to generate new opportunities for the people and to help them meet their aspirations. When such new initiatives are planned there would be efforts to create mistrust between the electors and the elected government of the day.
-In such a scenario, people need to be presented with all relevant facts so that a bridge could be built between the people and the legislatures. Who else than media can play such an effective role?

-Media essentially facilitates a two way communication between the people and Parliamentary institutions and should play this role as effectively as possible. This is best done if the media acts as a true well wisher of both the people and the legislatures.

-With rapid advances in technology, there has been a revolutionary expansion in the media today. In India, there is a vibrant media. This, coupled with a thriving democracy are our great strengths. These two advantages shall be put to best use in the interest of the people of our country.

-As one commentator (Malcom X) said and I quote: “ The media is the most powerful entity on the earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that is its power. Because, they control the minds of the masses”. This comment implies a certain concern over the way the media can function and can cut both ways, as we see on some occasions happening.

-Media is rightly called the ‘fourth pillar of democracy’ and has a critical role to play in furthering the cause of democracy. This is best done by elevating the level of understanding of the people, informing them of their rights, reaching their concerns and issues to the legislatures and inturn informing of the people about the functioning of their elected representatives.

-‘Demo’in Greek means people and ‘cracy’ in Latin signifies a particular form of government. Democracy in essence means a Government by the whole population, usually through their elected representatives.

-A nation of sheep will only get a government of wolves. Democracy certainly does not mean two wolves and a sheep deciding to vote on what to have for the dinner.
-A meaningful and effective democracy and its attendant parliamentary institutions need people who have higher levels of understanding, consciousness and the ability to ask questions and obtain answers. This kind of empowerment of the people through diffusion of knowledge and information is possible through media.
-Democracy thrives on the credibility of its institutions and the Parliament is the most important of them. When I say Parliament, state legislatures are included. Unfortunately, the public perception about our Parliamentary institutioins is short of what it should be.

-While this deficit needs to be addressed to through necessary reforms, media should not become a party to denigrating the Parliament and other legislative bodies.

-Criticism is welcome as an operational principle of media, but not cynicism. Cynicism is a disorder both at the level of an individual and that of any institution.

-Legislatures shall function on the principle of ‘Debate, Discuss and Decide’ and not by ‘disruption’. But what gets highlighted in the media more often is such disruptions and the disruptors at the cost of good debates and debaters.

-Yes, media should report disruptions, not as heroic performances but as negative outcomes and in the process discouraging such deviant behaviors.

-So, media should decide what to incentivise and what to check.

-There should be symbiotic relationship between the Parliament and the Media. They should need to further the cause of each other in the larger interest of democracy.

This relationship should not be either too adversarial or too close to each other.

-The functioning of Parliament spreads over a wide canvas of activities, particularly after the introduction of the system of Standing Committees. Volumes of evidence is being taken from the government departments by the Statutory as well as Parliamentary Standing Committees on a wide range of issues as Parliament seeks to ensure accountability of the executive. Enormous information is generated in the process. Media can do extensive reporting based on these efforts of various committees with a little bit of homework and more effort. This would help both the media and Parliament as well.

-Media should desist from resorting to the easy option of focussing on disruptions and disrupters and there by taking democracy into the well.
-The need of the hour is innovation in reporting on the functioning of Parliament and state legislatures to capture the attention of more and more readers by the print media and vieweres by electronic media.

-I see some such innovations by some national dailies. These include reporting on expenditure incurred by MPs under MPLADS scheme, attendance of members, participation in debates, contribution of women MPs, speech of the day, view from the gallery etc. These are some of the positive features and more and more of such reporting should be done.

-But that requires more homework and effort. I am reminded of what the famous Russian scholar Aleksander Solzhenitsyn had said and I quote: “Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic diseases of the 20th century’’.

-This disorder seems to be haunting all the institutioins in the 21st century also. This is not limited to media alone. It is a problem with elected representatives too. How many MPs and MLAs do their homework and research before speaking on an issue. Most of them take it very casually. As a result, no wisdom flows from their interventions.

-When I was to speak on the issue of religious conversions in the Parliament, I had to prepare for two days.

-So, the point that emerges is that both the Parliament and the Media have to elevate their levels of performance and feed each other to mutual advantage.

-If I have sounded more critical of media, that was certainly not my intention. On the other hand, I have only ventured to highlight the importance of media in ensuring an effecive democracy through vibrant parliamentary institutions that command respect of all stakeholders.

-An informed society and open and accountable democratic institutions are essential for growth and developoment.

-Parliament and Media have a joint responsibility towards furthering the cause of the people and the relationship between the two shall be guided by this shared understanding.

-I am sure that the efforts of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association will enable the elected representatives, the media and civil society work in an enabling environment of shared goals and responsibilities.

-I thank the organisers for organising this Conference at Visakhapatnam and giving me an opportunity of sharing my thoughts with all the distinguished participants.

-I wish the Conference all success.