The 83 All India Presiding Officers' Conference (AIPOC) that had begun with the concerns of unwanted overstepping of judiciary has concluded with the resolution to have complete faith in the primacy of the people of India in law making through the legislative bodies.
Conference resolves to have confidence in separation of powers
The two-day conference held in Jaipur resolved to have confidence in the principle of separation of powers among all organs of the state, exhorting all organs of State to respect the Constitutional boundaries enshrined in the Constitution of India.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that the participants of the conference deliberated on various issues regarding the productive and qualitative functioning of the legislative bodies and passed 9 resolutions. He said that the judiciary can review the laws passed by the legislature but we expect that it should respect the Constitutional boundaries enshrined in the Constitution.
The conference also expressed its concern over the decorum and dignity of the legislative houses and resolved to review the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of legislative bodies and formulate model uniform Rules incorporating best practices. The conference resolved to introduce Code of Conduct for Members for bringing about an effective check against indecorous and unparliamentary conduct.
Other resolutions passed in the conference:
- The (AIPOC) will extend full support to projection of India as 'Mother of Democracy' and a global leader in the cause of equity, inclusivity, fraternity, peace and sustainable lifestyle at the G-20 summit.
- The (AIPOC) calls upon all political parties to build consensus among themselves against any disruption in the Houses of legislature particularly during Question Hour.
- (AIPOC) calls upon all legislative bodies in India to take meaningful steps to empower the Committee System and expand breadth and scope of scrutiny of executive action.
- For realization of financial autonomy in managing the affairs of State Legislatures, it was resolved that Chairperson AIPOC be authorized to Conduct wide ranging consultations with State Governments.
- (AIPOC) resolved that legislative bodies will take all steps to join the National Digital Grid for Legislative Bodies in the interest of greater efficiency, transparency and interconnectedness.
- (AIPOC) resolved to institute an annual Best Legislature Award for legislative bodies to be selected through an objective criterion based mechanism.
- (AIPOC) resolved to take all possible steps for education pertaining to constitutional provisions, legislative practices and procedures to all sections of the population, particularly women and youth.
