MPs favour political consensus on national issues

Parliamentarians and industry leaders have again emphasized the need for political consensus on issues of national development.

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Participating in a session on 'Democracy and Development' at the 88th annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Harish Chandra Meena said, "For any democracy to be successful it has to be progressive, vibrant and should be able to meet the aspirations of the people it is representing."

"Development has many dimensions to it (political, economic and social) and both development and democracy can work together. Over the past one and a half year, a lot has been done and there is lot to be achieved going ahead," he added.

He said it is important to educate people politically and also highlighted the role that industry can play in driving the country's growth and development.

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Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Rajiv Shukla mentioned that the ruling party should make an effort to develop relations with opposition parties and arrive at consensus on key issues in order to ensure that maximum amount of government business is transacted. Negotiations should take place and effective communication is of utmost importance.

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Pavan Kumar Varma, another Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, expressed reservations with respect to prescription of standards such as minimum educational attainment for electoral candidature at the local body level. He highlighted that any potential candidate can know the real pulse of the ground realities and challenges on the basis of his experience irrespective of his educational qualification.

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R V Kanoria, Past President, FICCI said, "though it is often said that democracy can be a liability for development and autocratic decision making is much swifter; but despite working in a democratic framework for so long, we have been able to achieve much and a lot issues have been resolved. However, it remains important that we should mature as a nation and we move away from party based politics to issue based politics". "It should be issues that should determine policy", he added.

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Sidharth Birla, Past President, FICCI, said "growth and development is not the only bottom line, There are softer issues such as social issues that need consideration. What lies at the heart of the development agenda is whether we can provide employment to billions of people entering workforce.