Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday said dissent should not eclipse the democratic decency under any circumstances, as he imparted lessons to legislators of the 16th Assembly as how to be a good lawmaker.
Inaugurating a two-day orientation programme, Naveen said, “Democratic dissent is a right. However, while exercising this right, legislators must not forget democratic decency. Under no circumstance, democratic dissent should cast a shadow on democratic decency.” Stressing that people are the “real masters in a democracy”, he said the elected representatives should keep the common man at the centre of all their initiatives.
“The most significant point for a people’s representative is that he or she must lead by example. Simplicity should be at the core of our public behaviour. Leading a simple life can help us connect with people,” he said. The primary function of the legislature is to enact laws. An appetite for information and education on legislative procedures and understanding of socio-economic issues and policies will certainly help, he told the MLAs.
“All our Acts and policies are essentially directed at greater public good. The legislators should also endeavour to bring the Acts and policies to public domain so that people can be real partners in the process of change,” he pointed out.
During these two days the functioning of legislatures and different procedural guidelines will be undertaken.MLAs across party lines appreciated advice of the Chief Minister, who himself an example of simplicity and decency.
First-time Congress MLA – Adhiraj Mohan Panigrahi said an elected representative should lead a simple life and be cautious towards the people of his constituency. “We should be cautious in our behavior both inside and outside the house. A few ruling party MLAs have not followed the advice of CM. Let’s see whether they following them in future,” said Panigrahi.
Panigrahi was hinting at the behavior of the ruling party MLA Saroj Meher, who forced an engineer to do sit-ups in pubic for low quality work, and former minister Pradeep Maharathy, who attacked poll officials before election.