Himachal Pradesh CM, Jairam Thakur, will grace the Inaugural function and the meeting will discuss matters concerning discipline and decorum of legislatures and various facets of the anti-defection law vis-a-vis the powers of the Speakers.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 82nd All India Presiding Officers Conference in Shimla on November 17. This was announced by Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla here on Monday (November 15).
He said the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jairam Thakur, will also grace the Inaugural function. The Speaker of Himachal Pradesh Assembly and other state legislature will also attend the Conference, he said.
Mr Birla said the meet would discuss a wide range of issues, including Journey of a Century (Evaluation and the way forward) and Responsibility of Presiding Officers towards the Constitution, the House, and the People and the conduct of the members.
The Valedictory Session of the Conference will be held on Thursday, November 18, with Governor of Himachal Pradesh Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to address.
The Conference will also discuss matters concerning discipline and decorum of legislatures and various facets of the anti-defection law vis-a-vis the powers of the Speakers.
“The gradual decay in the discipline and decorum in the legislatures is a matter of concern and the Shimla Conference would ponder over that,” said the Lok Sabha speaker.
The Monsoon session of Parliament was a washout and particularly very bad in the sense of conduct of members. There was unusual commotion more than once in the Rajya Sabha, and Congress MP Partap Bajwa even jumped over the table and threw copies of the Indian Constitution.
Regarding the Anti-Defection Law and concerns around defections, Mr Birla said that a Committee had been constituted on this subject matter during the Presiding Officers’ Conference in 2019. It is likely that a detailed discussion on this report will likely be held.
Perhaps there was an urgent need to rationalize the powers and jurisdictions of Presiding Officers for putting in place a robust system for the implementation of the Anti Defection Law, he said.
Speaking on the financial autonomy of the State Legislatures, Birla informed that this matter assumes great significance in the functioning of legislative bodies. AIPOC, the apex body of the Legislatures in India, is celebrating its hundred years in 2021.
Mr Birla also spoke about the important role of Parliamentary Committees in strengthening the accountability mechanism regarding the Executive (the government and Ministers). He referred to various path-breaking discussions in the meet to give a definite shape to the functioning and role of Parliamentary Committees.
