'Social democracy needed along with political democracy' Says Om Birla

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said that the biggest challenge to the country is to create a socially, politically, economically and legally conducive environment that can enable every section of the society to participate in the governance process.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) India Region Zone III event here, Birla said that efforts are needed to establish social democracy along with political democracy.

"Be it Parliament, Vidhan Sabha or Panchayat, our focus should be on increasing the participation of the people in the decision-making process and making these institutions more sensitive to the problems of the people so as to strengthen their trust in the democratic institutions," he said.

Terming the topics for discussion during the conference - 'Challenges of NE region and way forward' and 'Preservation of ethnic culture for future generation and role of law makers' - as important, the Speaker said the topics are concerned with bringing the democratic institutions closer to the people and optimizing the effectiveness of the legislators.

"Politically, the position of North-East States is different from other States as most of the legislative Assemblies of the region were constituted five decades ago. The development journey of the region has been very challenging due to the unique political and geographical situation," he said.

He added that the democratic institutions have a special role to ensure the development of the region as the public representatives are directly connected with the people and fully aware of the issues.

"The democratic institutions can formulate policies according to the needs, hope and aspirations of the people so that maximum welfare of the people can be achieved and positive change can be brought in their socio-economic conditions," he stressed.

The debates and discussions in democratic institutions will find way to address the challenges by making action plans according to the opinion of the people, Om Birla added.

"The conference will pave way for strengthening our democratic practices and parliamentary policies and unleash new dimensions of development in the North-East," he said and added that the conference would send out a positive message, not only to the region but to the country, as to how democratic institutions could be used for maximum public welfare.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh opined that the North East Council (NEC) should give more focus on the specific need of the Northeastern States while framing policies, keeping in view the challenges of the region.

"The Centre is focusing on holistic development of North-East, which was evident from the intense debate of over six hours in the Parliament during the Budget session, on how to develop the region at par with the rest of the country," Singh said and added that it should be the duty of the State Governments and the legislators to preserve the unique history of the region.

The two-day conference is being attended by Speakers and Deputy Speakers of all eight States of the region, besides ministers and officials.

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