The Governor of Haryana Sh Bandaru Dattatreya today said that 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.
Even during the turbulent and challenging times, India was able to find effective solutions within the frameworks of the Constitution.Sh 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 that 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 PreSence 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 Sh 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.
He said, "We have proved ourselves as the largest and vibrant parliamentary democracy in the world". According to Sh 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, Sh 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.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's greeting message to all Awardees was also read out from the stage, in which he said: “Discussions and debates in Parliament provide a forum to the government and policy makers to fulfill the people’s aspirations and take the country’s development journey ahead.
It is the responsibility of every parliamentarian to enhance the quality of debates in the House and also voice the concerns of the people, particularly the poor and marginalised sections of the society.” At the ceremony, 13 MPs, two Parliamentary Committees and One Life Time Achievement honour to Veteran were awarded.
These included Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato (BJP, Jharkhand), Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (BJP, West Bengal), Shri Kuldeep Rai Sharma (INC, Andaman Nicobar Islands), Dr Heena Vijayakumar Gavit (BJP, Maharashtra), Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (INC, West Bengal), Shri Gopal Chinayya Shetty (BJP, Maharashtra), Shri Sudhir Gupta (BJP, Madhya Pradesh) and Dr. Amol Ramsing Kolhe (NCP, Maharashtra) for their performance in the 17th Lok Sabha under various categories. Shri T K Rangarajan, (Former Rajya Sabha MP for two terms and a Senior CPIM Leader) was awarded with Life time Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian politics.
Dr. John Brittas (CPI-M, Kerala), Dr. Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD, Bihar), Smt. Fauzia Tahseen Ahmed Khan (NCP, Maharashtra) have been nominated for their performances in Rajya Sabha in 2022 under the ‘Sitting Members’ category. Shri Vishambhar Prasad Nishad (Samajwadi Party, UP) and Smt. Chhaya Verma (INC, Chhattisgarh) were honored under the ‘Rajya Sabha Members Retired in 2022’ category for their outstanding performance during their full term in Rajya Sabha.
Under the standing committees category, the Finance Committee (Lok Sabha Committee - Chairman – Shri Jayant Sinha, BJP, Jharkhand) and Transport, Tourism and Culture Committee (Rajya Sabha Committee - Chairman – Shri V. Vijayasai Reddy, YSR Congress, Andhra Pradesh) were awarded for their outstanding cumulative performance from the beginning of the 17th Lok Sabha until the end of Winter Session of 2022.
Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal ,Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture also addressed the gathering while Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, Member of Parliament from West Bengal delivered the acceptance speech on behalf of all awardees.
Sh K Srinivasan, Founder & Chairman, Sansad Ratna Awards Committee and Prime Point Foundation, Dr Priyadarshni Rahul, President of Awards Committee and Trustee-Secretary, Prime Point Foundation and other members of the organising committee were also felicitated.