NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, on Thursday, said that in this era of information technology revolution, parliaments need to ensure public participation in parliamentary oversight and improving governance.
Participating in the online panel discussion on the theme ‘Improving governance by bridging the gap between Parliaments and the People’ during the ongoing Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP), the Lok Sabha Speaker said that the Parliament of India, representing the aspirations of 1.35 billion people, plays a proactive role in ensuring engagement with the public.
Birla said that this involves the usage of five ‘I’s in the process — ‘Interact’: Involving the interaction of parliamentarians with the public and adopting information and feedback in the working of the House; ‘Inform’: Involving the usage of means of information & communication and social media to continuously enlightening the public about the programmes and policies of the government; ‘Involve’: Ensuring participation of the public in the development process; ‘Imbibe’: Internalisation of feedback received from the public in the administrative process; and ‘Improve’: Bringing out the desired progress in the administrative schemes and processes.
Observing that Parliament is the highest legislative institution of the nation, Birla said that it is fully engaged with the people and always reinforces transparency and good governance.
He mentioned that even during the pandemic, Parliament maintained 24×7 connect between the parliamentarians and the general public to ensure that the needy and the underprivileged are provided necessary relief and assistance without delay.
Birla observed that the Parliamentary Committee system works to ensure public participation in legislative oversight work.
Further, through the direct telecast of proceedings of Parliament on the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Television Channels, dedicated websites and social media platforms, it has been ensured that Parliament reaches every house of the country.
During the two-day conference, the participants shared their experiences and views on a number of issues, such as gender equality, the participation of youth in the political process, climate change, human mobility and terrorism.
The Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP) was organised jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva, and the Parliament of Austria on August 19 and 20 with the support of the United Nations (UN).
This was the first time that an international Parliamentary Conference of such a magnitude was organised virtually.
The theme of the 5WCSP was ‘Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet”.
The second part of the conference will be held next year in Vienna, Austria.
The Conference, held in the backdrop of the current crisis and its disastrous impact on the world, aims to strengthen multilateralism and international cooperation in order to rebuild a better world.
