Antony resents decline in debate in Legislatures

Criticising the trend of passing legislations without a thorough debate, Defence Minister A K Antony today said it was the responsibility of both ruling and opposition parties to ensure that greater time was devoted for discussions in the House.
"When laws are passed without a proper debate and taking sufficient time, we will be doing a great injustice to the coming generations. The flaws that creep into the law-making could remain there for long uncorrected," Antony said.
He was delivering the inaugural address at valedictory of the 125th anniversary of the "Legislative bodies of Kerala" at the state assembly complex here.

The Congress leader said there was a time when Kerala Assembly was known for path-breaking legislations it passed and thereby setting a model for the entire nation.
"Kerala Assembly had a reputation for keeping pace with the social changes. Many of the socially radical and welfare oriented bills it enacted had set a model for the whole country. Could the same legislature make such a claim now?", he sought to know, voicing concern over the sharp decline in the number of days the House met this year.
Antony said this was an occasion for everybody to introspect and find out ways of improving things and regaining the eroded standards, which was the joint responsibility of the ruling and the opposition parties.

Kerala Assembly Speaker G K Rarthikeyan, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan and leaders of various parties spoke on the occasion.