Vice President expresses concern over political discourse reaching new low

Hyderabad: Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu has expressed his concern over political discourse reaching a new low in recent years and called for reversing the disturbing trend at the earliest.

Speaking at the Hyderabad Management Association's 46th Annual Awards function in Hyderabad today, the Vice President who is also the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, expressed his distress over frequent disruptions of Parliament and state legislatures.

Naidu opined that reducing the pious, legitimate forums to 'disruptive platforms' was a clear negation of the vision of our Constitutional makers. "In a way, it is an affront to the spirit of the Constitution of India. It is apathy towards the hopes and aspirations of the people. It is an utter disregard for people's mandate. It is a betrayal of the people's faith in these pillars of democracy," he bemoaned.

The Vice President said that people in public life must understand that they were only rivals and not enemies. Quoting the former President, Pranab Mukherjee's advice, he said "Discuss Debate and Decide but not Disturb" should be the best way forward for the effective functioning of institutions.

Observing that dysfunctional legislatures will strengthen the demand for 'recall of legislators', the Vice President said "I am afraid that we are moving towards that stage". He said the presiding officers of legislative bodies must decide anti-defection cases within three months. Similarly, election petitions and criminal cases against political leaders must be decided quickly by special benches of higher courts in a time-bound manner, Naidu added.

The Vice President said that the people have made their choice with a resounding clarity in the recent elections and voted for stability and continuity. He opined that the nation must step up the relentless crusade against hunger, poverty, illiteracy and disease and translate the economic growth into happiness for the masses through good health, education, employment, improved infrastructure and amenities.

Naidu said that one way of achieving that goal was through enlightened and efficient management practices both in the private as well as the public sector. Bodies like the HMA must use management as a tool for transformation of the economy and the society, he added.

Observing that GST was a revolutionary taxation measure, the Vice President lauded the managerial and leadership skills of former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in bringing 17-year-long discussions to fruition under the guidance of Prime Minster Narendra Modi. Stating that all decisions in 34 meetings of GST Council were taken unanimously without voting, he said "that is greatness of management".

Referring to the World Bank's latest forecast, Naidu said that the whole world was looking towards India for investments and stressed that it was the time to accelerate the reforms initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make India the third largest economy in the coming years.

Urging the public and the private sectors to complement each other's work and learn from each other's experience, Naidu said that strong principles of corporate governance must be the driving force of any company. "The principles of transparency, integrity, ethics and honesty must be upheld at all times and must be reflected in every business activity", he emphasized.

Observing that India simply cannot allow scams, frauds, scandals to happen at this crucial juncture of our development, Naidu said financial fugitives, who defraud shareholders and other stakeholders of a company, must be brought to justice before they seek safe havens abroad.

The Vice President also presented awards in various categories, including Manager of Year-2018 to Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary to Government of Telangana.

President of Hyderabad Management Association Ravi Kumar Peesapati, members of the association and several other dignitaries were present on the occasion.