Meira Kumar not for punitive action

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar Thursday said though ample powers were vested in her, she does not believe in "punitive action" to run the house.

Speaking to students from the Maharani Gayatri Devi School of Jaipur who met her in parliament, Meira Kumar said debates and discussions were necessary for meaningful legislative process.

She said parliamentary democracy had empowered people across the country, irrespective of the innumerable challenges encountered during the last six decades.

"While democracy has failed in several countries, India's deep-rooted democratic ethos and traditions allow us to vote, contest elections and to be represented effectively in the parliamentary process," an official statement quoted the speaker as saying.