Pravash Pradhan
Post News Network
New Delhi: The government should increase the sittings of the House from 80-90 days to 120 days in a year, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Tathagata Satpathy said in the Lok Sabha Thursday during the discussion on Constitution Day.
The government should also give opposition parties a day in a week to discuss issues of national importance, he said.
“On this auspicious day, that is November 26, the Constitution Day, I would like to make a very humble suggestion to the government of the day that from our usual 80 to 90 days of sittings of the House, let us try to make it 120 days of sittings of the House per year. We should also give one day per week to the non-government side also,” said Satpathy.
The MP has also rejected the idea of ‘Rajbhasha’ and ‘Rashtrabhasha’. He disapproved of the hegemony of Hindi language and appealed to people to respect each other’s language and “love India for what it is today”.
Satpathy has also emphasised on strengthening the governance system by reconsidering the ‘Police Act of 1861’ which has become obsolete in the present scenario and improving the primary education system in the country.
The Dhenkanal MP criticised both the Congress and the BJP for thwarting the very thought of “federalism” when they are in power. “Whether it is the National Investigation Agency which the UPA wanted or the way the present government is behaving, all this goes to show that we pooh pooh federalism — the idea, the concept of federal democracy and as a nation which has been our character. We believe that individuals matter,” he said.
The BJD MP also criticised the government for taking credit for ushering in ‘cleanliness’ in India and imposing tax on common citizens in the name of cleanliness.
Satpathy also spoke on secularism and intolerance. “In a secular society, if we want this country to pass on healthy traditions to our children in a unified manner, then it is time that we shed our ego, our ahambav and we come to a stage where we decide, as a nation — not as politicians or people who are in power temporarily because we have seen people change seat very often now — to be totally intolerant towards intolerance. Let us not tolerate intolerance at all and that does not end here in this House with a few people speaking a few words. That has to be implemented at the field with the people,” he said.
