'Dignity of Parliament should be template for gram panchayats'

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said the dignity of Parliament should be cherished, which pins on the quality of discussion on the floor, and this quality of debate should become a template for gram panchayats across the country.

Birla's remarks came after he resumed the chair in the Lok Sabha, after unofficially abstaining from the parliamentary proceedings. Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark in 2014 on the Parliament, terming it as a temple of democracy, Birla insisted he does not like - the act of throwing of papers on the floor and snatching papers from the marshals in the Parliament.

He emphasized that political parties are free to express their agreement and disagreement, and also free to have a critical opinion on various aspects of governance, but it should not breach the dignity of the Parliament. Birla said he will initiate the proceedings after analyzing the mood of the Parliament.

Birla also revoked the suspension of all seven Congress MPs. The decision was taken following a meeting of the Speaker with members of the subcommittee that was formed to look into the issue. The subcommittee had been formed last week, a day after the MPs were suspended for unruly behaviour and disrespect to the Chair.

The suspension was to remain in place for the rest of the Budget Session which ends on April 3.

The Congress members who had been suspended included T.N. Prathapan, Dean Kuriakosh, Gaurav Gogoi, Unnithan, Gurpreet Singh Aujala, Benny Behanan and Manikkam Tagore.

The suspension came about after the Congress MPs snatched a copy of a Bill, tore the papers and tossed them at Rama Devi who was in the Chair at the time.

Parliament resumed proceedings on Wednesday after it was adjourned on March 6. Ever since Parliament resumed the Budget session on March 2, the Congress MPs have been disrupting proceedings with slogans demanding the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah over the violence that shook several parts of northeast Delhi from February 23 to 25. IANS