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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday said that the a solution should be found through dialogue to any stalemate in the House between the treasury benches and the opposition parties and that the Parliament should send a message not only to the people of the country but also abroad through healthy, meaningful discussions.
Answering queries during a press conference here on the upcoming Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth, he also said that steps have been taken to cut down on wasteful expenditure and capabilities and capacity of the staff are being enhanced. The 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth, being hosted by Parliament of India will be the largest CSPOC in terms of participation. The conference will be held from January 14 to 16 will discuss shared parliamentary values, democratic governance and institutional cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the conference on January 15 in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan, Parliament House Complex. Speaker Om Birla is the Chairperson of this Conference. "The Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth being hosted by India will have the largest participation," Birla said. He said that work related to the conference has been done online and paper has not been used. He said an app has been developed to enable all aspects of conference coordination, facilitation and information dissemination. A web-based event management system has been developed. Answering queries, he said there will be no participation from Pakistan and Bangladesh does not have a Speaker at present with general elections scheduled to take place next month. The Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth (CSPOC) was created in 1969 as an initiative of then Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Lucien Lamoureux. Since its inception, Canada has provided CSPOC with a secretariat to support its activities. Answering another query, the Speaker said that the process of investigation into the complaint against a Trinamool Congress MP of having resorted to using e-cigarette in the House is being completed and asserted that it is responsibility of all members to increase the dignity of the House. "The process of investigation is in the direction of being completed. As soon as the investigation process is completed, the action plan will be made and will go to the committee, and the process will be completed. It will not be possible for anyone to spoil the dignity of the House. It is a responsibility... You will have to maintain decorum inside the House and the one who does not maintain decorum will be punished under the rules and procedures of the Parliament. Action will be taken. Action will be taken as per the rules," he said. The Speaker was answering a query on the probe into the E-cigarette complaint against a TMC MP, made during the winter session of Parliament by BJP MP Anurag Thakur. Anurag Thakur complained that a TMC MP had been smoking E-cigarette in the House in violation of rules. He had said E-cigarettes have been banned in the country and asked if they have been allowed in the House. The Speaker had responded firmly, saying that no rule allows any MP to smoke inside the house. "If such an incident is brought to my notice with clarity, appropriate action will follow," Birla said. He promised to look into the incident after Anurag Thakur submitted a written complaint about the alleged smoking incident to the Speaker. (ANI)
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