Political parties should have code of conduct for lawmakers, says Om Birla

The two-day 85th All India Presiding Officers' Conference also adopted a five-point resolution that included a collective resolve to take steps to ensure disruption-free debate and discussion in House

Amid disruptions in Parliament and state legislatures, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday urged political parties to devise a code of conduct for their lawmakers to uphold the dignity of their respective Houses.

The two-day 85th All India Presiding Officers' Conference also adopted a five-point resolution that included a collective resolve to take steps to ensure "disruption-free" debate and discussion in their respective legislatures.

The presiding officers agreed to deploy technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to bring legislative bodies closer to the people by making available debates in the local and two additional languages, Birla said.

The presiding officers voiced concern over the decline in the number of sittings of state legislatures and agreed to implement the resolutions of previous meetings.

"In an earlier meeting of the presiding officers, we had resolved that the state legislatures would hold at least 60 sittings in a calendar year. We have agreed to make efforts to implement the resolution," Birla told PTI in an interview.

Making a strong pitch for an internal code of conduct by political parties for their elected representatives, Birla said such an approach could lead to fewer disruptions in legislative bodies.

The Lok Sabha speaker said some parties had an unwritten code of conduct for Parliament and state legislatures and their members refrained from entering the well of the House and disrupting proceedings.

Birla also urged the media not to glorify lawmakers for disrupting House proceedings and write more frequently against unruly conduct during sessions of Parliament and state legislatures.

"Don't make heroes out of those who disrupt proceedings," the Lok Sabha speaker said.

The two-day conference was attended by 41 presiding officers who expressed their views on "75th Anniversary of Constitution: Contribution of Parliament and State Legislative Bodies in Strengthening Constitutional Values".

Speakers of various state assemblies, including Satish Mahana (Uttar Pradesh), Rahul Narvekar (Maharashtra), M Appavu (Tamil Nadu) and Abdul Rahim Rather (Jammu and Kashmir), participated in the deliberations.

Ram Shinde and Neelam Gorhe, the chairperson and the deputy chairperson of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, respectively, also spoke on the deliberations.

Addressing the valedictory session, Birla said the presiding officers had resolved to make legislative bodies the focal point of debate and discussion.

"All political parties should cooperate in upholding the dignity of the legislative bodies. This will be possible only when political parties have a code of conduct for their lawmakers," he said.

His remarks came in the backdrop of repeated disruptions witnessed in many legislative bodies.

The Lok Sabha speaker said the presiding officers resolved to bring in more efficiency in the functioning of legislative bodies by using technology.

Parliament will soon make available parliamentary debates from 1947 till date in 22 languages recognised in the eighth schedule of the Constitution, Birla said.

He said all state assemblies should also make efforts to make available debates since 1947 in Hindi and English and offered technological assistance from the parliamentary secretariat for this.

He said Parliament had started offering simultaneous translation facilities and parliamentary papers in 10 of the 22 officially-recognised languages.

Birla also urged state legislatures to strengthen the committee system, which act as mini-parliaments, and help in holding elected governments accountable to the people.

In his address, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh touched upon the need for legislators to introspect on their conduct in the House.

"In older times, there used to be governments with massive majorities, yet those selected members in the opposition were able to present their views effectively and present their dissent in a dignified way. The nature of disruption today shows that we have forgotten how to disagree respectfully," he said.

The valedictory session was attended by Harivansh, Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, Bihar Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav and Bihar Legislative Council Chairman Awdhesh Narayan Singh, among others.

Birla also inaugurated the National e-Vidhan Application Seva Kendra at the Bihar Legislature Extension Building.