05 January,2018 09:28 PM IST | | IANS
Parliament cannot be an extension of politics in its typical sense which is marked by deep divisions and acrimony, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday.
"All of you would agree with me that though the Parliament is a political institution, it cannot be an extension of politics in its typical sense which is marked by deep divisions and acrimony," Naidu, who also the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha, said in his valedictory remarks at the conclusion of the 244th session of the upper house.
"Parliament is an important institution for furthering the shared socio-economic goals of the nation which are critical to fulfilling the aspirations of the citizens who are the chief patrons of our parliamentary democracy," he said.
Naidu observed that although the House could transact some important business, it "could have been better than what it proved to be".
He said that India is steadily evolving towards realising its immense untapped potential and the legislatures of the country, including Parliament, need to "quickly evolve in the way we conduct our proceedings so as to meet the needs of our evolving nation".
He mentioned that assertion of commitment by both government and opposition to respect and uphold the office of Prime Minister and former Prime Minister, was a high point.
Naidu also appreciated the way in which "all sections" of the House spoke "in one voice and in a restrained way" regarding Kulbhushan Jadhav meeting his family members in a Pakistan jail.
However, the Chairman expressed concern over the lost hours during the session.
"Intense and passionate submissions and debates are the order of democracy, but disruptions are certainly not. I urge upon the Members to seriously introspect in this regard.
"It is a matter of deep discomfort that the House has lost 34 hours of valuable working time as against the period of 41 hours of business transacted," he said.
Naidu also wished well to the three retiring members - Karan Singh, Janardan Dwivedi and Parvez Hashmi, and said that the upper House would be missing their contributions to the proceedings of the House.
Catch up on all the latest Mumbai, National and International news here
Download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go
The content/reporting displayed on our website www.mid-day.com is provided "AS-IS," "AS AVAILABLE, by us from third party, agencies, sources, without any verification from our side. It may contain error, bugs and other limitations. The reader's can rely on the content at their own will. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, data, text, images, video, messages, or any other material whatsoever or for any claims/loss/action that the reader may suffer as a result of relying on the content on our site. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
