India has emerged as a robust democracy: Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatreya

GURGAON: Over the last 75 years India has emerged as a robust democracy, the constitutional bodies like the Supreme Court of India and the Election Commission have played a significant role to strengthen our parliamentary democracy, said Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatreya. Even during the turbulent and challenging times, India was able to find effective solutions within the frameworks of the constitution.
Dattatreya was addressing the gathering as chief guest at the 13th Edition of Sansad Ratna Awards ceremony at New Maharashtra Sadan on Kasturba Gandhi Road in New Delhi on Saturday.He said the concept of honouring the top performing Parliamentarians on behalf of the civil society was initiated by former President Dr Abdul Kalam. The Prime Point Foundation and the e-magazine PreSense have been recognizing the top performers of Parliament since 2009. In the past 12 editions, they have presented 90 awards. This year, they have crossed the 100th award mark, said Dattatreya.
He said that when we got Independence in 1947, some of the advanced countries doubted whether Indian leaders were capable of maintaining democracy and providing good governance. They expected that India would disintegrate. Thanks to Sardar Vallabhai Patel, who brought together 500 plus provinces under the Indian Republic. Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar could provide us with the greatest Constitution which has provided solutions for many of our challenging times. "We have proved ourselves as the largest and vibrant parliamentary democracy in the world," said Dattatreya.
According to Dattatreya, every Member of Parliament should remember these two things that our Parliament is like a temple and the Constitution is like the Bible for us. Only then, the Parliamentarians will be able to do justice as an MP. Our Parliament has given us several stalwarts like Lal Bahadur Shashtri, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Inderjeet Gupta and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia – the list is too long. They were ever committed to values, morality and responsibility.
He said that every MP should conduct himself with dignity and discipline. Only then, will they be able to raise the standard of democratic values. They must remember that Parliament is a forum to debate, discuss and solve the people’s problems. He acknowledged the contribution by all political parties and leaders in the Parliament, cutting across the party line but felt that with the growth of social media and political awareness among masses, the responsibility of all Parliamentarians and Legislators is going to increase. Parliamentarians have to prepare well and use Parliament time effectively to bring out the needs of their constituency, Dattatreya asserted. He further said that every MP should be committed towards the people’s welfare in general and in particular those who are from the deprived sections of society including women and labourers.