Ansari dismayed over MPs' behaviour in Parliament

Chairman of Rajya Sabha Hamid Ansari has expressed his dismay over the frequent adjournments and behaviour of the representatives that has stalled work in Parliament.

The vice president of India appealed to all the political parties, especially to the newly elected members of Parliament of the upper house, to use their influence on their leaders to resist from creating pandemonium in the House.

Dr Ansari reportedly met leaders of the opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha On Friday and the treasury benches on Saturday.

He has asked the MPs to ensure that they are accountable to the citizens of the country. "Yesterday morning, I came across a longish editorial in one of our national newspapers. The caption was 'Parliament -- Urgent reform is needed'. Then, it goes on commenting, not in complimentary terms, on the functioning of both the Houses of Parliament in the past few days," he said while inaugurating the orientation programme for the MPs on Saturday.

"Prior to that, there was, in another newspaper, a cartoon which depicted the Monsoon Session… It is telling because there are popular expectations of the public and those expectations have not been met," he said.

"Each one of you has been elected as a representative in your own individual capacity. But, each one of you or most of you are also bound by the disciplines of the party system, which is all very good because, I think, the party system does contribute to the effective functioning of Parliament. "

Ansari lamented that much too often, "we take the view that if we simply disrupt the proceedings of the House, we will make our point. I am afraid, it does not go down like that in the public."

Observing that the people do not see such protests in good light, he said "my plea to you is to please think about this and devise ways by which your right to protest remains unchecked, but that protest does not become an impediment to the rest of your work", he said.

He said it was upto the members to make the best use of their time contributing to the public life of the country, in a genuine and serious manner. "Or, you may just decide to use the Rajya Sabha as another club card whose membership is much sought after; or, you may use it simply for proximity to the corridors of power," Ansari said.

With agency inputs