Chennai, Nov 30 (IANS) Frowning on the increasing incidences of members disrupting the functioning of parliament and the state legislatures, President Pranab Mukherjee Friday said the legislatures can increase the number of days they meet and transact business.
He also said reissuing the same ordinances by government despite the earlier on the same subject not getting the legislature nod should be avoided.
Speaking at the Diamond Jubliee celebrations of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Mukherjee stressing that the cardinal principle of parliamentary democracy is that the majority should rule while the minority would oppose and expose.
He said the three “Ds” – debate, dissent and decide – should be the driving force of democracy and the fourth “D” – disruption should be avoided.
Referring to the reduced time being spent by legislatures on discussing major issues like budget and plan proposals, Mukherjee said nothing prevents the parliament or the state assembly from functioning for six months a year.
He said the total size of India’s first budget was just Rs.293 crore and the size of the budget he as the country’s finance minister presented was around Rs.12 trillion.
Mukherjee said the time devoted in the parliament to discuss the budget has gone down.
Agreeing that the Constitution has provided for promulgating an ordinance by the government, Mukherjee stressed that promulgation of the same ordinance again after failing to get the legislature’s nod to the earlier one should be avoided.
