As representatives of different Parliaments from around the world, the Prime Minister underlined the importance of debates and deliberations as he mentioned accurate examples of such debates from history.
He informed that assemblies and committees have found a mention in the five-thousand-year-old Vedas and scriptures of India, where collective decisions were made for the betterment of society.
Speaking about Rigveda, India’s oldest scripture, the Prime Minister recited a Sanskrit shloka which means ‘We must walk together, speak together and that our minds must be conjoined’.He informed that issues related to the village level were resolved by indulging in debates which became a source of great amazement for the Greek ambassador Megasthenes who wrote about it in great detail.
The Prime Minister also touched upon a 9th-century inscription in Tamil Nadu which elaborates upon rules and codes of village legislatives. “The 1200-year-old inscription also mentions the rules for disqualification of a member”, he added.
Speaking about the Anubhav Mantappa tradition which has been going on since the 12th century in India, and years before the Magna Carta came into existence, the Prime Minister informed that discussions were encouraged where people from every caste, creed and religion were free to express their thoughts.
“The Anubhav Mantappa initiated by Jagatguru Basweshwara makes India proud even today”, the Prime Minister remarked as he underlined that the journey of India from 5000-year-old scriptures till today is a heritage of Parliamentary traditions not just for India but the entire world.
PM Modi also touched upon the constant evolution of and strengthening of the parliamentary traditions of India with time. He informed that 17 General elections and more than 300 state assembly elections have taken place in India since Independence. People’s participation is consistently increasing in this largest electoral exercise.
He said the 2019 General election where his party was elected to power was the biggest electoral exercise of human history as 600 million voters participated in that.
At that time, he said, there were 910 million registered voters, more than the population of entire Europe. 70 per cent turnout among such a large electorate shows the deep faith of Indians in their parliamentary practices. The 2019 election witnessed record participation of women. Referring to the expanding canvas of political participation, the Prime Minister said that more than 600 political parties participated in the last General Election and 10 million government employees worked in the conduct of the elections and 1 million polling stations were erected for voting.
The Prime Minister also dwelled on the modernization of the election process. The use of EVMs since the last 25 years has brought transparency and efficiency to the election process as election results come within hours of the start of counting. He informed that 1 billion people will participate in the general election next year and invited the delegates to witness the elections.
PM Modi also informed the delegates about the recent decision to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Parliament and the state assemblies for women. He also told them that out of more than 3 million elected representatives in the local self-government institutions, almost 50 per cent are women.”India today is promoting women’s participation in every sector. The recent decision taken by our Parliament will further enrich our parliamentary tradition”, PM Modi added.
Highlighting the unwavering faith of the citizens in the parliamentary traditions of India and credited its diversity and vibrancy, PM Modi said, “We have people of every faith here. Hundreds of types of food, ways of living, languages, dialects.”
He informed that India has more than 900 TV channels in India in 28 languages to provide real-time information to the people, more than 33 thousand different newspapers are published in about 200 languages, and about 3 billion users on different social media platforms.
PM Modi emphasized the huge flow of information and the level of freedom of speech in India.
“In this world of the 21st century, this vibrancy of India, unity in diversity, is our greatest strength. This vibrancy inspires us to fight every challenge and solve every difficulty together”, he added.
Concluding the address, the Prime Minister underlined that there can be no better medium than public participation to deal with the world’s challenges. “I have always believed that governments are formed by majority, but the country is run by consensus. Our parliaments and this P20 forum can also strengthen this sentiment”, the Prime Minister said and expressed confidence that the efforts to improve this world through debate and deliberations will definitely be successful.
The itinerary on the inaugural day of the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20) and Parliamentary Forum includes two separate sessions on Friday. The first session comprises a discussion on ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ with Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), showcasing achievements and accelerating progress. The second session will be on ‘One Earth Sustainable Energy Transition-Gateway to Green Future’.
