NEW DELHI: Vice President, M. Venkaiah Naidu today offered 12 tips to the newly elected members of the House to make a difference to the functioning of the House and making of the nation as effective Parliamentarians. He counselled the members on their conduct both within and outside the House while inaugurating a two-day orientation programme for the newly elected members of Rajya Sabha.
VP Naidu stressed that criticism of the government of the day should be informed and credible instead of being for record. “The opposition has the right to criticize the government, he said. In fact, it is their duty. But the criticism should be informed so that it looks credible. Opposing every move of the government for the sake of record dent’s its credibility. The quality of criticism should really sting the government of the day and catch the eye of the media and the people.”
Urging the members to acquire deep knowledge of the State of the Nation to make effective contribution for its transformation, Shri Naidu said; “it is also your duty to ensure and further strengthen the unity and inclusivity of our multi-cultural society by checkmating the attempts to create divisions based on caste, colour, region and religion.
Each one of you must emerge as the spokesperson of the aspiring, emergent, capable, resilient and united India.” He also cautioned the members about the attempts to block the progress of the country whose voice is finding an echo in the global order in the form of disturbances along the boundary, misplaced criticism of the country based on some sporadic incidents, discrediting our democracy, economic restrictions, cross border terror etc and urged them to effectively checkmate such attempts in every forum. Shri Naidu reminded the members of their solemn duty to defend the integrity and sovereignty of the country by being alert all the time about the threats to the same.
He also urged the members to acquire a thorough understanding of the provisions and philosophy of the Constitution which provides the pathway for socio-economic transformation of the country besides offering the operational matrix for the members. He also referred to the need for adequate knowledge of the role and evolution of Rajya Sabha and it’s harmonious functioning with Lok Sabha based on a shared vision for development of the country since Independence without being obstructionist. He also stressed on the need for members to be tech savvy to make effective use of information technology in aid of their functioning.