Presiding officers to discuss conduct of House proceedings

Problems faced by the Chair in ensuring smooth conduct of Parliament and state legislature proceedings will be high on the agenda at a three-day meet of presiding officers beginning here tomorrow.
Parliamentary practices, role of Parliamentarians and procedures of the House will be discussed threadbare at the Conference of Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies of the country, its organisers said.
Speakers and Deputy Speakers of 30 state Assemblies and Chairmen of seven Legislative Councils, besides the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha are among 400 odd invitees.
The conference will be held against the backdrop of President Pranab Mukherjee recently slamming the Opposition over repeated disruptions in Parliament, saying a noisy minority cannot be allowed to gag a patient majority.

Mukherjee has said on a few occasions that there is need for collective thinking by political parties and leaders of our country on how to ensure smooth running of Parliament and legislative assemblies and whether some of the existing rules need to be amended for the purpose.
Democracy should comprise of the three 'D's - debate, dissent and decision, he has often said, voicing concern over addition of a new 'D' -- disruption -- into the system.

The President has also slammed the government for taking the ordinance route for normal legislation.
At the conference, a proposal to make legislatures paperless will also be discussed.

On the first day, there will be a conference of secretaries of legislative bodies, while on January 31 and February 1, there will be a conference of speakers, Deputy Speakers of legislative Assemblies and Chairpersons of legislative Councils, Convenor of the Preparation Committee Ambika Chaudhary said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will address the inaugural function, while Governor Ram Naik will be present at the concluding function.
This is the third time after 1961 and 1985 that Uttar Pradesh is hosting such an event.