Patna: Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh addressed the plenary session of the 85th All India Presiding Officers Conference (AIPOC) in Patna on Tuesday, January 21. In his address, Harivansh underlined the need for effective scrutiny of budgets in legislatures and said that there needs to be a political consensus among parties at the state level to commit to economic growth.
He further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has underlined India’s ambition of being a developed nation by 2047 and that the financial security of the country must receive the same priority as any other national security issue.
Harivansh said, “The growth required to achieve this ambition will be possible only when all states collectively focus on economic growth. Hence legislatures must examine whether the budget in their respective states is being allocated efficiently and not increasing the debt burden. If we want to be an economic power there needs to be a renewed political consensus to stay away from irrational expenditure.
He cautioned that India had already been through a challenging phase in 1991 when the nation was on the cusp of bankruptcy.
Harivansh said that India’s moment of economic crisis did not emerge overnight. “It was a consequence of years of inaction on taking reform measures. Top economists and advisors to the government such as IG Patel, YV Reddy, Montek Ahluwalia, and C Ranagarajan at the time have recalled this delay that eventually led us to the brink. It was Prime Minister Chandrashekhar who initiated the first steps of resolving the crisis,” he said.
He further said that The Reserve Bank of India in recent times has also noted the challenges of certain expenditure commitments by certain states that can increase the debt burden. “I have often heard about demand for more allocations, but very few discussions happen on how to raise the revenue to finance the expenditure,” he said.
The deputy chairman recollected that even BR Ambedkar had highlighted that the country’s interest must remain above the party’s interests. In his address, the Deputy Chairman also touched upon the need for legislators to introspect on their conduct in the House.
He said that in older times there used to be governments with a massive majority, yet those selected members in the opposition were able to present their views effectively and present their dissent in a dignified way. “The nature of disruption today shows that we have forgotten how to disagree respectfully,” he said.
The theme of the 85th AIPOC is the role of legislative institutions in strengthening constitutional values. In his address, the Deputy Chairman recalled the work of the constituent assembly in deepening democratic values and the key role played by members from Bihar in this process. He also noted that India’s constitution has remained flexible and adapted to the needs of time. He added that the legislatures must look at this evolution of the constitution as a continuous process and deliberate on laws for the future as well.
The two-day conference concluded on Tuesday in the presence of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. This is the third instance of Bihar hosting the AIPOC after 1964 and 1982. (ANI)
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