Senior parliamentarians, including Speaker U.T. Khader, Chairman of Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti, the former chairpersons of the Council B.L. Shankar, V.R. Sudarshan, Viranna Mattikatti, and others bemoaned the deteriorating parliamentary standards and the need to take corrective measures in the interest of democracy.
They were speaking at a function to release five volumes of “Sadanadalli H.K. Patil” at Karnatak University in Dharwad on Saturday.
Karnataka Researchers Forum, Bengaluru, has published five out of the 13 volumes planned.
Mr. Khader expressed concern over the issue and said that society can progress only when honest politicians are elected leading to the introduction of positive reforms.
Elaborating on the need for maintaining parliamentary standards, Mr. Khader said that it is an established fact that in both Houses of the legislature it is only those politicians who have patience, perseverance and have made sacrifices have climbed up the political ladder to become statesmen.
He called upon young politicians to learn the art of making discussions and debates in the House more meaningful.
Mr. Shankar expressed regret over the Council becoming a carbon copy of the Assembly. Commenting on the Speaker’s decision in Maharashtra Assembly on disqualification, he said that judiciary is being forced to overstep its limits as Speakers have failed to act responsibly.
Mr. Sudarshan emphasised the need to have the Council functioning in a parliamentary system of democracy. He also made a fervent plea for electoral reforms, as the system allows those with financial and political power to win elections.
Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs H.K. Patil stressed the need for documenting debates and discussions of all legislators so as to serve as a proof of their parliamentary performance and also bring out books on debates of parliamentarians to serve as a guide to other legislators.
He also laid emphasis on the need for starting a channel for coverage of the Council proceedings and called upon chairpersons to introduce revolutionary steps to restore the dignity and decorum of the House.
Presiding over the programme, Mr. Horatti said that it is regrettable to note that the Legislative Council has been reduced to a rehabilitation centre for election losers from what used to be a forum of thinkers.
He said that the work on documenting the proceedings in a systematic manner and creating a data bank has begun. It will help legislators to search for important debates of parliamentarians, he said.
Labour Minister Santosh Lad, Vice-Chancellor of Karnatak University K.B. Gudasi and Tejaswi Kattimani and others spoke.
Several legislators and senior parliamentarians attended the event.
