NATIONAL Council Meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad (ABAP) was organised in Bengaluru from December 27 to 28. A total of 138 delegates from all states of the country participated in the meeting. The theme for the deliberations was ‘Parliamentary System Reforms’. Discussion on organisational matters was also held.
The meeting was inaugurated by former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Shri MN Venkatachalaiah. Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court and currently Member of Parliament Dr M Rama Jois, RSS Akhil Bharatiya Pracharak Pramukh Shri Madan Das, organising secretary of the Parishad Shri Surya Krishan, joint organising secretary Shri Kamlesh Singh, Minister of Law in Karnataka Government Shri Suresh Kumar and other dignitaries were also present at the inaugural ceremony. Former judge of Andhra Pradesh High Court and president of Adhivakta Parishad Shri Parvath Rao presided over the inaugural session.
Justice Shri MN Venkatachalaiah spoke at length on the genesis of Parliamentary system, importance of the Cabinet and the pivotal role played by the Prime Minister in the system. He said the majority of parliamentarians and legislators do not, in actuality, represent the majority of voters. He suggested reforms in the system so as to make the parliamentarians more responsible to the citizens. He suggested electoral reforms to bring about qualitative enhancement in the elected representatives. He advised the legal fraternity to work pro-actively to uphold the Constitution and rule of law.
Dr M Rama Jois spoke about the various reforms and amendments required in the Constitution to bring fundamental improvement in the working of the system. He emphasised that uniform marriage laws, protection of cow, prohibition of liquor, which are all in the IV Schedule of the Constitution namely Directive Principles of State Policy, are to be incorporated in the III Schedule i.e., in the Fundamental Rights chapter of the Constitution. He emphasised the concept of dharma, trivarga and especially arthashocha. He opined that purity in the means of acquisition of wealth is the foremost requirement for individual and societal well-being. He stressed that no person can be clean by taking bath 100 times or by going round and round the temples, if his means of acquiring wealth are immoral.
Former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha and renowned scholar Dr Subhash C Kashyap gave a thought provoking lecture on the measures that can be taken for bringing Parliamentary as well as Electoral Reforms. He also answered the queries of the delegates.
On December 28, secretaries of all states presented note on the working and programmes conducted in their respective states. In resolution it was resolved that reforms to the Parliamentary system are a must and such reforms are required to make the system more responsive to the masses. The resolution also stressed the need to Indianise the Parliamentary system by incorporating the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Dattopant Thengadi.
After the last working session, Shri Surya Krishan was felicitated. Vedaghosha was conducted by two acharyas of Veda Vignana Gurukulam, Bengaluru. Shri Bhupender Yadav, Advocate of the Supreme Court, spoke about the contribution of Shri Surya Krishan to the Parishad. At the meeting Shri Surya Krishan was relieved of his responsibility as an organising secretary and henceforth he would guide the organisation as a Margadarshak. Shri Kamlesh Singh was declared the new organising secretary.
(By Rajesh Padmar, VSK, Bengaluru)
