New Delhi: The anti-defection law and frequent House disruptions were discussed at length in a meeting of “presiding officers of legislative bodies” chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at the Parliament House Complex here on Friday.
State Legislative Assembly speaker P D Sona who also participated in the meeting put forward his views on two important topics — Access to Assistive Technologies: Implementation of Standards Across the Commonwealth Parliaments and Youth Roundtable: Cyber Bullying, Youth Trolling and Mental Health.
Various issues pertaining to people’s participation in legislative bodies and uniformity of rules and procedures in legislatures were also thoroughly discussed during the meeting.
Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker highlighted that debates and discussions in legislatures should be dignified and every member should conduct themselves in a manner that will add to the dignity and decorum of the House.
He said that there should not be any disruption, especially during the addresses of the president and governor.
“Presiding officers should meet regularly and discuss these issues so that meaningful discussion takes place in legislatures,” Birla suggested.
Speaking on strengthening the anti-defection law Birla said the presiding officers, constitution experts, legal scholars and other stakeholders would be consulted for amendments to the law.
Speaking on the issue of expunction of certain words from parliamentary proceedings, Birla urged the presiding officers to inform the members that no word has been banned but the words which have been expunged from the proceedings as per the directions of the chair have been compiled.
Presiding officers should guide the members so as to maintain a dignified conduct in the House, said Birla while adding that efforts must be made to enhance the number of sittings of state legislatures.
Emphasizing on the need for a single platform for information about legislatures in the country, the Speaker said that a single digital platform is being prepared and debates of all the legislatures in the country will soon be available on the same.
He further sought cooperation from the presiding officers for sharing debates of state legislatures so that a robust digital platform can be prepared.
Speaking on uniformity of rules and procedures, Birla said uniformity of rules and procedures for all democratically elected legislative bodies, including Panchayats, will strengthen democracy from the grassroot level.
The presiding officers also discussed matters related to the implementation of resolutions adopted in POs conference at Shimla and Guwahati.
