PM’s remarks on 250th session of Rajya Sabha

Hon’ble Chairman and Hon’ble House, I congratulate all the Parliamentarians for this 250th session through you, but I congratulate everyone who has contributed so far in the journey of these 250 sessions. I also commemorate them respectfully. Chairman Sir, When you were just presenting two different events together in a very articulate way, I think the people who are fond of writing in the country will definitely take note of it now and will write that the 250th session has not just been merely yet another session, but rather a journey of ideas. As you have said that sometimes a bill is presented in a particular form, but in the final stage, the same bill takes a different shape. Time has changed, circumstances have changed and this House has assimilated the changed circumstances and tried to mould itself. I think this is a very big thing and I congratulate all the members of the House who have worked in this direction. Otherwise someone might feel that since he/she had taken one stand 20 years ago then how that person could change the stand now. But the way you have articulated this fact is a reflection of our journey of thoughts, a reflection of India’s development journey and a reflection of the way India is capable of taking a lead in new aspects in the global environment. And this work is being done from this House, so the House feels pride in itself. It is a great privilege for me that today I have got the opportunity to participate in and witness this important occasion. We can clearly say that there was a discussion among the framers of the Constitution whether there should be one or two Houses; but experience says that the arrangement given by the framers of the Constitution has been so appropriate; how well they have contributed! If the lower House is connected to the ground then the upper House is farsighted. And in this way, while the lower House reflects the things of ground reality pertaining to India’s development journey, the Upper House which is capable of looking far, contributes by combining both. We get to see a beautiful combination of these two experiences from our two Houses. This House has seen many historical moments. It has not only created history but has also witnessed history being created and this House has achieved great successes in turning that history when needed. In the same way, eminent veteran legends of this country have led this House, participated in this House and because of this, the development journey of our country had begun and many things after independence that had to be done, was done. Now after 50-60 years, many things have taken shape, but in the initial period we had to go through the fear of unknown. The maturity with which everyone has led at that time is a great thing in itself. Hon’ble Chairman, This House is very special and there are two great aspects – one is its permanency i.e. it is permanent or eternal, and the other is diversity. It is permanent or eternal because the Lok Sabha gets dissolved, but this House has never been dissolved since its birth, that is, it is eternal. People will come and go, but this system remains eternal. This is one of its specialties. And the second is diversity – because the representation of states is a priority here. In a way, the spirit of the federal structure of India inspires us here every moment. The greatest strength of India’s diversity, the formula of unity in diversity of India, is seen in this House and they also reflect from time to time. Similarly, when we move forward with those diversities, there is another benefit of this House. It is not very easy for everyone to cross the electoral arena, but their utility in the interest of the country is not reduced. Their experience and capability is equally valuable. So this is a place where the talent and experience of such powerful personalities and experienced people from different fields, can be utilized in the political life of the country and in the policy making of the country from time to time. Be it the scientists, sports persons, artists, writers, the benefits of many great personalities for whom it is very difficult to come from the electoral arena can be utilized for the nation. Due to this system, we have received our rich intellectual property. And I believe the greatest example of this is Babasaheb Ambedkar himself. Because of some reason or the other he was not allowed to reach the Lok Sabha. But it was the Rajya Sabha from which the country got a lot of benefits due to the presence of Babasaheb Ambedkar and hence we are proud that this is the House from where the country benefitted from many great men like Babasaheb Ambedkar. It has also been seen that there was a long period when there was nothing like an opposition. The opposition was negligible. And it was a great privilege for those people who were in the governance system at that time, which is not there today. Today, there is conflict at every step; one faces opposition at every step. But at that time when the opposition side was negligible, there were such experienced and learned people sitting in this House that they never allowed autocracy to creep into the governance system. A lot of effort was made in this House to motivate the people sitting in governance to go in the right direction. We can be proud of the great service that has been done, and it is memorable for all of us. Hon’ble Chairman, I would like to present before you what our first Vice-President, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan had said in relation to this House. Doctor Radhakrishnan ji had said, sitting in the same chair, that our perception, our behavior, and our thinking in the two Houses will determine the propriety of our parliamentary system. This bicameral system, which forms part of the Constitution, will be tested by our actions. We are introducing two houses in our parliamentary system for the first time. Our effort should be to justify this arrangement to the country with our thinking, ability and understanding. His words are equally relevant today. And whether you mention the words of venerable Pranab Mukherjee or express your pain, all these things are mentioned in these words. As the journey of 250th session begins, after so much of the experience, the responsibility of the present and the future generations increases that whether we are working to fulfil the expectations of Dr. Radhakrishnan, or are we failing to meet those expectations? It is also time to think whether in the changing era, we are adding even more value to those expectations? And I am sure that the present generation of the House as well as the future generations will continue to strive to fulfil the expectations of Dr. Radhakrishnan ji and the country in the days to come…. Now, as the Hon’ble Chairman said, if we consider the last 250 sessions, then we will see that many important historical bills have been passed here which have become the laws of the country. They have become the basis for running the life of the country. And if I look at the performance of the last five years, it is a great privilege for me that I have also got an opportunity to witness many such important events. I have had the privilege of listening to the views of everyone who is scholarly and have got the opportunity to see many things afresh from this House. And I have benefitted a lot from this, and I am also thankful to everyone. If we try to learn things and understand, then we benefit a lot and I have experienced the same here. So it is a privilege in itself that I sometimes get a chance to be amidst you and get to learn a lot from you. If we look at the last five years, people doubted whether law on Triple Talaq would be passed in this House or not. It was felt that it might be stuck here; but this House, with a lot of maturity, has done a very important work of women’s empowerment. Seeds of conflict have been sown in our country every moment by opposing reservation. Every effort has been made to create tension out of it. But it is a matter of pride that this House decided to give ten per cent reservation to the poor families of the general class, but there was no tension in the country; no protest was seen; rather a consensus was made. And it was also possible due to this House. In this way, if we talk of GST – for a long time, whoever had responsibility in governance, had worked hard for it. There were debates on the drawbacks; there were debates on whether changes were required or not. Finally this House had arrived at a consensus on the One Nation One Tax System to give direction to the country and because of that we are now able to place our say before the world with a new conviction. Now the unity and integrity of the country! The promises made in this House in 1964 that it would be done within a year, but could not be done. It was this House that provided a direction to the country by revoking Sections 370 and 35(A). It has been first passed in this House, and later the Lok Sabha has done it. And therefore this House in itself is so important for the unity and integrity of the country. And another important feature of this House is that Mr. N Gopalaswamy, who had introduced Article 370 within the Constitution, was the first leader of this House. So as this article was placed in this House, the same House did the work of revoking it with great pride. That one incident has now become a history, but it had happened here. The responsibility given to us by the framers of our Constitution – our priority is being a welfare state, but with that we also have the responsibility of ensuring the welfare of the states. That is, India as such works as a welfare state but at the same time we have the responsibility of ensuring the welfare of the states as well. And these two together i.e. the state and the center together can only advance the country and in doing so, this House, because it represents the states, has played a major role. We have also provided strength to our Constitutional institutions. Our federal structure is an important condition for the development of our country and if the central and state governments work together, only then progress is possible. The Rajya Sabha ensures that the central and state governments are not rivals in the country. But we work to take the country forward by becoming participants, as partners. The extracts of ideas which are exchanged here, are carried by the representatives here to their respective states and conveyed to the state governments. We also need to motivate state governments to engage with it proactively. The development of the country and the development of the states are not two separate things. Without the development of the state, the development of the country is not possible and if the roadmap of the development of the country is contrary to the development of the states, even then the states will not be able to develop. And these things are reflected in this House the most. Many policies are made by the central government. And only the Rajya Sabha and its members can bring aspects like the expectations of the states, the stand of the states, the experience of the states, the daily problems of the states in the government’s policy formulation in a very precise manner. And the benefit of the same is also received by the federal structure. Not all work is going to be done together; some work will be done in five years; some in the next five years; but the direction is fixed and that work is being done from here. Hon’ble Chairman, in 2003, when this House had completed 200 years, an event was organized and even then the government was of NDA and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. So the speech of the venerable Atalji during that 200th session was very interesting. He had a very unique style of speaking. He had said that the second chamber existed to increase the power of our parliamentary democracy and he had also warned not to make the mistake of making the ‘second’ House a ‘secondary’ House. This warning was given by Atalji that never make the mistake of making the second House a secondary House. When I was reading those things said by Atalji, I also felt that if it has to be presented in some new way in relation to today, then I would say that Rajya Sabha is the second House. It should never be a secondary house and for the development of India, it should always remain a ‘supportive house’. Atalji had delivered a speech on 50 years of our parliamentary system, and in that speech he had made a point with a great poetic spirit. He had said – The flow of a river is good as long as its banks are strong. Similarly, one bank of India’s parliamentary flow i.e. our democratic process is Lok Sabha while the other bank is Rajya Sabha. If these two banks remain strong, only then will the flow of democratic traditions proceed in a very precise manner. Atalji had said this at that time. It is certain that India has a federal structure and is full of diversities; so it becomes all the more important that we are not deviated from the national perspective. We must always keep the national outlook at the centre. But we have to balance the regional interest with the national point of view in a very precise way. Only then we will be able to take that sentiment forward by this balancing act. And this is possible only in this House by the honourable members in the best possible way and I am sure that we are constantly striving to do that work. The basic principle of checks and balances is very important for Rajya Sabha. But it is very important to maintain a distinction between checking and clogging. It is also very important for us to maintain a balance between balance and blocking. In a way, many of our dignitaries say this again and again that the House should be for discussion, dialogue and debate. There can be debates in loud voices; there is no harm in it. However, it is necessary that we choose the path of dialogue instead of interruptions. I would like to mention two parties today – NCP and BJD. And kindly excuse me if I miss any name but I am mentioning only two. Look at the specialty of these two parties – they themselves have decided that they will not rush towards the well and I see that not even a single member of these two parties has broken that rule. All the political parties have to learn that including my party. We all have to learn that despite following this rule, there has been no hindrance in the political development journey of NCP and BJD. Meaning, you can win people’s hearts, you can win people’s trust without creating such hindrances and rushing towards the well. That is why I think we all including the treasury bench must learn from those high traditions that have been built, because these have not caused any political harm. They are present in front of us. And that’s why I am telling the entire House that we must discuss about the discipline followed by both NCP, BJD in the best possible way and should thank them at some point or the other. And I believe that today when we are holding the 250th session, such great incidents should be mentioned and brought to the attention of the people. I am sure that all the members will continue to play their role in doing whatever is necessary in the direction of maintaining the dignity of the House. Your pain and agony keeps on reflecting. We all will, on this 250th session, try and take a pledge, so that you are at minimum possible level of distress, and your feelings are respected. And we will become your partners in running this house as per your wishes by following the discipline. With this resolution, I once again convey my best wishes to everyone on this important occasion. And thanks to all those who have taken the House to this level. With that, I end my speech. Thanks a lot.