Staff Reporter / New Delhi

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla today informed that all the Speakers of Legislative Assemblies have unanimously agreed that there should be a Model Code of Conduct to ensure that there are no disruptions in proceedings of the House.

Briefing media in New Delhi after a meeting of Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies, Mr Birla said, there should be constructive discussions in Legislative Assemblies. He said a committee would be formed for making the Model Code of Conduct.

Birla informed that there was a consensus among the Presiding Officers to increase the number of sittings of the State Legislatures and also to increase the productivity of legislative work. It was also felt that there is a need to have extensive and healthy debates in the Legislatures for passing the laws and the House needs to function without any interruptions. Shri Birla further said that, in tune with the unanimity among Presiding Officers, a common Code of Conduct will be framed for Legislative Bodies to check interruptions.

For this, a Committee of Presiding Officers would be formed, which after due consultations with the Speakers of Legislative Assemblies and the Chairmen of Legislative Councils, would present its report at the next Presiding Officers Conference to be held at Dehradun in November 2019.

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Observing that in this digital age when new changes keep taking place, the use of technology needs to be uniform in Lok Sabha and all the State Legislatures in sync with the concept of ‘Ek Bharat’, Birla said that it was unanimously agreed upon by all the Presiding Officers that a Committee would look into the issue how National eVidhan Application (NeVA) would be uniformly applicable in the State Legislatures.

Underlining that public money should be spent judiciously and efficiently, Birla also said that an Action Taken Report would be prepared for improving the efficiency of Legislative Bodies. Shri Birla further said that the Presiding Officers were of the view that the legislative process can be made more efficient with the help of better research and it should be ensured that quality research items are made available to Legislators for better performance in their respective Houses.

The Speaker said there will be a meeting of Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies in Dehradun in November this year where the final decision on the proposals will be taken.

30 Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies across the country participated in this meeting.