The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi addressed the closing ceremony of the Centenary celebrations of the Bihar Legislative Assembly in Patna today. The Prime Minister inaugurated Shatabdi Smriti Stambh which has been built to commemorate 100 years of Bihar Vidhan Sabha.
He also laid the foundation stone of the Vidhan Sabha museum. Different galleries in the museum will demonstrate the history of democracy in Bihar and the evolution of the current civic structure. It will also have a Conference Hall with more than 250 people capacity.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the Vidhan Sabha guest house on the occasion. Governor of Bihar, Shri Phagu Chauhan, and Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar were among those present on the occasion Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said It is the nature of Bihar that the one who loves Bihar, Bihar returns that love manifold.
“Today I have also got the privilege of being the first Prime Minister of the country to visit the Bihar Vidhan Sabha Complex. I bow to the people of Bihar for this affection”, he said. The Prime Minister said that the Shatabdi Smriti Stambh will inspire myriad aspirations of Bihar.
Recalling the glorious history of the Bihar Assembly, the Prime Minister said big and bold decisions have been taken in the Vidhan Sabha building here one after the other. Before independence, Governor Satyendra Prasanna Sinha had appealed from this assembly to encourage indigenous industries and the adoption of Swadeshi Charkha.
After independence, the Zamindari Abolition Act was passed in this assembly. Taking this tradition forward, Nitish ji's government passed an act like Bihar Panchayati Raj making Bihar the first state where women were given 50 per cent reservation in Panchayats, he recalled. “This Assembly is an example of how equal participation and equal rights are pursued in democracy to social life”, the Prime Minister remarked.
The Prime Minister underlined the ancient roots of Indian democracy and said “for decades, attempts have been made to tell us that India got democracy due to foreign rule and foreign thinking. But, when any person says this, he tries to cover up the history of Bihar and the heritage of Bihar.
When large parts of the world were taking their first steps towards civilization and culture, a sophisticated democracy was operating in Vaishali. When the understanding of democratic rights was beginning to develop in other regions of the world, republics like Lichchavi and Vajjisangh were at their peak.
“The concept of democracy in India is as ancient as this nation is, as ancient as our culture. India considers democracy as a means of equality and equality. India believes in the idea of co-existence and harmony. We believe in truth, we believe in cooperation, we believe in harmony and we believe in the cohesive power of society”, the Prime Minister elaborated.
The Prime Minister reiterated that mother of democracy in the world is India. India is the mother of Democracy. And the glorious heritage of Bihar and the historical documents present in Pali are living proof of this. No one can erase or hide this splendour of Bihar, he insisted.
“This building has strengthened Indian democracy for the last hundred years, hence it deserves our homage. This building is associated with that consciousness which did not allow dissipation of democratic value even during the period of slavery”, he added.
The Prime Minister recalled the assertion of independence in governance by Sri Babu against the Britishers. Bihar always remained steadfast in its commitment for protecting democracy and democratic values. Shri Modi mentioned that Bihar gave independent India's first President in the form of Dr Rajendra Prasad.
Leaders like Loknayak Jayaprakash, Karpoori Thakur and Babu Jagjivan Ram came from this land. Even when there was an attempt to crush the Constitution in the country, Bihar came to the fore and blew a trumpet of protest against it. “The more prosperous Bihar is, the more powerful India's democracy will be. The stronger Bihar is, the more capable India will be”, the Prime Minister pointed out.
The Prime Minister continued “the Amrit Mahotsav of Azadi and this historic occasion of 100 years of Bihar Legislative Assembly has also brought a message of introspection and self-analysis for all of us, for every public representative. The more we strengthen our democracy, the more strength we will get for our freedom and our rights.”
In the context of changing needs of the 21st century and resolutions of New India in the 75th year of Independence, the Prime Minister said, “as MPs of the country, as MLAs of the state, it is also our responsibility that we together defeat every challenge being faced by democracy. Rising above the distinction of party-politics, our voice should be united for the country and its interest,”.
Stressing that “the democratic maturity of our country is displayed by our conduct”, the Prime Minister emphasized that “Let the Houses of Assemblies become the centre of positive dialogue on the subjects related to the public.” On the performance of the Parliament, he said “In the last few years there has been a record increase in the attendance of MPs in the Parliament and in the productivity of the Parliament.
In the last budget session also, the productivity of the Lok Sabha was 129 percent. In Rajya Sabha also 99 percent productivity was recorded. That is, the country is constantly working on new resolutions, taking forward the democratic discourse.”
Marking the 21st century as the century of India the Prime Minister said “for India, this century is the century of duties. We have to reach the golden goal of New India in this century, in the next 25 years. Our duties will take us to these goals. Therefore, these 25 years are the years of walking on the path of duty for the country.”
Shri Modi elaborated “we should not consider our duties as separate from our rights. The more we work for our duties, the stronger our rights will get. Our loyalty to duty is the guarantee of our rights.”