‘Planned deadlock’ not good for country, states: Lok Sabha Speaker

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday said agreements and disagreements are the strengths of democracy, but a “planned deadlock”, be it in Vidhan Sabhas or Parliament, is not good.

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Birla was speaking to reporters here on sidelines of a two-day orientation programme for the members of the Haryana Legislative Assembly which commenced here on Friday.

“Mera manna hai Vidhan Sabhaon k andar ho chahe Sansad k andhar, niyojit gatirodh loktantar k liye uchit nahi hai (I believe that be it in Vidhan Sabhas or Parliament, a planned deadlock is not appropriate for democracy),” Birla said.

He added that deadlocks also disrupted the House and legislative business besides wasting precious time.

Birla said that since the responsibility of enacting new laws lies with the state Assemblies and Parliament, training legislators, especially new ones, is important to ensure they have a thorough understanding of legislative procedures. This, he said, will facilitate more informed discussions and dialogues on the bills introduced in the state Assemblies, ultimately benefiting the public in the future. He further added that democracy is strengthened through proficiency in legislative work.

Earlier, while inaugurating the orientation programme, Birla referred to all public-elected institutions as mini-Assemblies while underlining the importance of extensive discussions on public welfare in institutions such as Gram Panchayats, Gram Sabhas, Nagar Palikas, Zilla Parishads, and Panchayat Samitis. He suggested that positive suggestions for legislative work should also be taken through Gram Sabhas. He added that the more serious and participatory these discussions are, the more they will help in controlling the executive, improving governance, and curbing corruption.

Birla said that state legislatures should conduct comprehensive reviews of policies and schemes.  He said that there should be an in-depth study of state issues and the more effectively constituency and state issues are raised in the assembly, the more positive changes will occur.