Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said Assemblies and Parliament are meant for debate, discussion and decision, and not disruptions.
Referring to the ugly scenes witnessed in the Rajya Sabha recently and indicating action against those involved, he reminded elected representatives of their responsibilities.
"....all elected public representatives should focus more on improving the standards of the life of the people, by rising to the need of the occasion," Naidu said.
Addressing an event in Bengaluru, he said, "You might have seen some time back, what happened in the Parliament. A lot of youngsters called me and told me, Sir! you are the Vice President of India, why are you so sad? I said I'm sad because of the bad behaviour of some people, to the new low the Indian Parliament had gone."
Pointing to similar incidents at several state legislatures including Karnataka in the past, he further said, every legislator and public representative should keep in mind the need to raise the standards of the institution he or she is representing, and improve one's contribution by caliber, character, capacity and conduct.
"You are the role model for the people, if you behave like this then what is the inspiration the people and the youngsters will get?"
"Assemblies and parliament are meant for debate, discussion and decision. Debate, discuss and decide, but do not disrupt. Disrupting means you are disrupting the cause of the country. There may be some tension, but you must come back to attention," he added.
The vice president was speaking at an event after presenting the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry's Sir M Visvesvaraya Memorial Award to Dr M R Jayaram, Chairman GEF and Ramaiah Group of Institutions in Bengaluru.
Noting that he was not afraid to take action against those members who were involved in the ruckus, he said, "I can take action, if necessary I will take also, but the point is people of the country when they see such things on TV, they will become sad."
Reminding elected representatives that they were chosen by the people, he expressed hope that things will be positive in the days to come, and the quality of debate, discussion and decisions will improve and disruptions will be avoided.
"Protest and dissent is a right in democracy, agree to disagree, but you can't physically force anybody, because in democracy the verdict of the people is ultimate. We must respect the verdict of the people, whichever it is," he said, adding that in democracy the majority should be respected and the majority should also keep in mind the need to take the minority along.
Karnataka governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai were among the others present at the event, during which the vice president remembered Sir M Visvesvaraya as one of the great sons of India, a Bharat Ratna, father of modern Mysuru, and a legendary civil engineer.
Observing that the prime minister has given a mantra of reform, perform and transform, Naidu said the younger generation must come forward with new innovations, ideas, out of box thinking to accelerate the progress of the country, eradicate poverty, end illiteracy, reduce regional and economic disparities, and make the country strong and stable.
"We have to move towards Atmanirbhar Bharat, that should be our motto," he said.
Stressing on the need to come up with smarter ways to reduce carbon footprint and to recycle our resources with a sense of urgency, the Vice President said we must accelerate the progress.
"What is required is not only the creation of wealth , what is required is to make the life of the people more happy," he said, adding that with all the potentiality India can grow further for establishing a "Rama Rajya" (welfare state), where there is no poverty, anarchy and discrimination.
