Saturday, April 21, 2012

"India is a rich country of poor people" - Mr Anandrao Adsul, Award Winning MP

K. Srinivasan presenting the Sansad Ratna Award to
Mr Anandrao Adsul MP at Mumbai
Four MPs were presented with 'Sansad Ratna Award 2012' on behalf of Prime Point Foundation, at IIT, Madras on 14th April 2012.  Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Former Governor of West Bengal presented the Awards.

Mr Anandrao Adsul, Hon'ble Member of Parliament from Amravati, Maharashtra constituency is one of the Sansad Ratna Award Winners, for his outstanding performance in overall tally and also for being No 1 in asking 'Questions' in the current 15th Lok Sabha.  He was also No 1 in asking 'Questions' in the earlier 14th Lok Sabha.  Till 30th March 2012, he has asked 754 Questions.

Since Mr Adsul could not attend the Award function at Chennai on 14th April 2012 due to his ill health, K. Srinivasan, Chairman of the Prime Point Foundation personally handed over the Award to Mr Adsul at Mumbai on 19th April 2012.


After handing over the Award, he also recorded his Lok Sabha experience and as to how, he could get the benefit for his constituency through raising questions.  Mr Adsul  quoted some examples of his success story.  At the same time, he also expressed his concern over the growing scams.  He was quoting, "India is a rich country with poor people", meaning that our scams are in lakhs of crores.    However, he appealed to the new generation to enter into political system and improve the system for betterment.

Please listen to his interesting interview.  (11 minutes).


This video can also be seen from the following link.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Three cheers to Parliament



Chennai comes up with innovative ideas. ‘Prime Point,' set up by a gentleman known in true Tamil Nadu-style as ‘Prime Point Srinivasan,' has instituted a set of awards for parliamentarians called Sansad Ratna Awards. ‘PP' felicitously chose Ambedkar Jayanti for the conferment ceremony this year and conferred the honour on four MPs:

Anand Rao Adsul — Number 1 in Questions (754). The total tally of debates, private bills and questions raised — 784.

Hansraj Gangaram Ahir — Number 1 in private bills — 20 in number. Questions raised — 755.

S.S. Ramasubbu — Number 3 at the all-India level with a total score of 742 questions. Attendance — 97 per cent.

Arjun Ram Meghwal — Number 1 in debates with 251 debates to his credit. Attendance — 100 per cent.

I was asked to do the honours, I do not know why. I have never been elected to a legislative body. Nor am I ever likely to be. But then the “gracing” of occasions is ever done by those singularly unqualified for the role. Seated on the dais at the IIT-Madras auditorium with me was one who was eminently suited for the event, the veteran Era Sezhiyan. An opposition MP for 22 years, Mr. Sezhiyan has shone as a studious parliamentarian whose lack of interest in the perks of that position has been diametrically opposite to his fascination for the work-opportunities Parliament gives to a serious legislator.

Rajaji once said: “It is easy to fast sitting at home on Ekadasi but very difficult to fast sitting in the middle of Modern Café at meal time”. Whether or not the award-winning MPs have been on a metaphorical fast or working away during “meal time,” they have been clearly conscientious legislators.

As I applauded them, I could not but recall to myself Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's words spoken on November 4, 1948 in the Constituent Assembly: “The parliamentary system differs from a non-parliamentary system inasmuch as the former is more responsible than the latter but they also differ as to the time and agency for assessment of their responsibility. Under the non-parliamentary system, such as the one that exists in the U.S.A., the assessment of the responsibility of the Executive is periodic. It takes place once in two years. It is done by the electorate. In England, where the parliamentary system prevails, the assessment of responsibility of the Executive is both daily and periodic. The daily assessment is done by Members of Parliament, through Questions, Resolutions, No-confidence motions, Adjournment motions and Debates on Addresses. Periodic assessment is done by the electorate at the time of the election which may take place every five years or earlier. The daily assessment of responsibility which is not available under the American system is far more effective than the periodic assessment and far more necessary in a country like India. The Draft Constitution in recommending the parliamentary system of Executive has preferred more responsibility to more stability”.

The early days

The early Lok Sabhas and Rajya Sabhas more than rose to the standards of “daily assessment” set by Dr. Ambedkar, especially in MPs' stellar debating contributions. The lyrically thoughtful Nehru was matched by the rasping Kripalani. The Houses were well-served by the laser-eyed Feroze Gandhi, the fiery Bhupesh Gupta, the impassioned Hiren Mukherjee, the sedate Lakshmi Menon, the thermal Violet Alva, the acerbic Rammanohar Lohia, the excoriating Nath Pai, the striking Renu Chakravartty, the diligent Minoo Masani, the startling C.N. Annadurai, and, of course, the poetic Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

But even in our ‘own' times, the recent debate on the Lokpal Bill saw some exceptional speeches. Pranab babu, Sushma Swaraj, Kapil Sibal, Rahul Gandhi and Sandeep Dikshit spoke with persuasion in the Lok Sabha, as did Arun Jaitley, Sitaram Yechury, D. Raja, Shobhana Bhartia and Abhishek Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha. As a citizen, as a voter, I felt proud hearing them and knew that Dr. Ambedkar would have felt proud hearing them as well, because they were actuated by a clear sense of parliamentary accountability.

The Lokpal debate brought in many dimensions of the issue, each critical, each controversial. No one spoke like the other. Indeed none could have, for each came from different political addresses. Yet, basically, what they were all saying was: The world's largest democracy deserves the world's best Parliament. We may be far from that state yet, but the country should trust the institution to rise to the occasion whenever necessary.

But so high are those “occasions,” so tall our expectations, so pressing our needs for Parliament's attention, that our disappointment at its failure to meet our aspirations blinds us to the advantages of “daily assessment”.

Such an assessment would add up to an impressive tally by any standards. If untouchability has been abolished in our country, let us acknowledge the fact that it has so been abolished by the wisdom of the founding fathers of our Constitution and our Parliament. If that ugly stain on our society — dowry — has been outlawed in our country, it is by an Act of Parliament. Likewise, land reforms were brought in by Parliament, police reforms, prison reforms, labour law reforms, and an enactment, perhaps the first of its kind in the world, for the prevention of cruelty to animals.

Gifts to the country

All these are the gifts of our early Lok Sabhas and Rajya Sabhas to the country. They also bent to heed popular opinion, most notably, in the amendment to the States Reorganisation Bill, which had in a rather wooden manner proposed a composite state of Bombay, to divide it far more realistically into Maharashtra and Gujarat.

One might say all that ‘happened' in the golden days of Jawaharlal Nehru.

And so it did. But then the record has continued. The landmark reservation of seats for women in our local bodies happened long after and, in our ‘own' times, if domestic violence has been made a crime in our country, it is by an Act of Parliament; if the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is a fact of life today, giving employment and wages and nourishment to millions, it is because of Parliament; if the Right to Information is a household name today, being utilised across the length and breadth of India, and the Right to Education Act promises education to all of India's children, it is because of Parliament. If several States have Lok Ayuktas and the Centre may — inshallah — soon have a Lokpal, it is again because our legislatures have responded according to their own lights to public opinion, to public campaigns.

We ought not to take a measure of Parliament's height (and that of our Legislative Assemblies) on a low tide. Nor put the tape to where an exceptional high-scaler has reached. We should go by the mean level of our legislative record.

Something missing

And yet, there is a sense of something missing in our parliamentary record, something that is slipping through the fingers, almost.

‘Committee work' in Parliament and in our Assemblies can be exacting. But then, some seem to work far harder than others. And on the floor of the House, some attend regularly, others frequently, yet others fleetingly, and another category, only selectively.

And speeches? Some make a tidy number of them. Others opt for silence. It has been said speech should improve upon silence. Individual silence cannot improve on ambient silence, except in a Rishi's hermitage. Walkouts too are optional, as is raising one's voice beyond the requirements of audition, stepping into the Well of the House, tearing up documents. Those options are more visibly exercised.

Individual legislators do shine, sparkle and even stun us by their good performance. But going by the strict standards of responsibility that Dr. Ambedkar spoke of, it is Parliament as a whole and our Legislative Assemblies as a collectivity, that must be seen to pass the tests — rigorous, exemplary tests prescribed by him.

The most important step that needs to be taken in the matter of improving the “daily record” of our legislatures is to increase substantially the “daily” nature of its business — in other words, to have them meet oftener, sit longer, conclude the listed business. The Ministries in New Delhi bemoan the number of Bills that are “languishing” in Parliament. The Lokpal Bill is only one among many bills, each of great import, that are just unable to come up for discussion. Surely, this situation needs remedying.

The people of India will not begrudge the happy perquisites of MP-ship and MLA-ship if they are proportionate to the work put in, to high attendance, to the number of serious questions-per-session, and quality debates on bills. The people of India are generous. But as they also happen to be hugely intelligent, they want to see a good perk-work balance.

(The writer is former Governor of West Bengal.)

Monday, April 16, 2012

"Inspiring action will make legislatures as role-models" - Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

Dr Abdul Kalam's message being screened
3rd Annual Awards function was held by Prime Point Foundation at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras on Saturday the 14th April 2012 to honour four top performing Lok Sabha MPs with 'Sansad Ratna Award 2012'. Please click for more details.

On 10th April 2012, K. Srinivasan, Founder of Prime Point Foundation met Dr Abdul Kalam, Former President of India and briefed him about this event.  After conveying his greetings, he also gave a short message to be screened on that day.

In his exclusive message, he has suggested the legislatures to perform 'inspiring action', which can motivate youth to enter into politics and governance.

He also suggested three important actions  in their constituency viz. (1) restoring water bodies, (2) improving the literacy ration and (3) providing skill development centres.  Dr Abdul Kalam said that undertaking such inspiring action, will make them as 'role-models'.

The message was screened at the start of the Award function, which was well received by the audience and by the award winning MPs.  As suggested by Dr Abdul Kalam, they also announced openly to take up specific activities in their constituency as 'inspiring action' to become role-models.

Please watch this video (3 minutes)

You can watch this video from here also.

"Slandering Parliament amounts to slandering ourselves" - Gopalkrishna Gandhi

Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Former Governor of West Bengal
Prime Point Foundation, presented the Sansad Ratna Awards 2012 at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras on Saturday the 14th April 2012 to top performing 4 MPs.  Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Former Governor of West Bengal and the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Rajaji presented the Awards.

After presenting the Awards. he gave an inspiring and poetic speech for nearly 18 minutes.  During his speech, he stressed that the people should not slander Parliament and it amounted to slandering ourselves.  He also quoted the example of the Acts of Parliament abolishing dowry and untouchability, which still remained unabolished from the society.  He said, the Parliament was a great Institution and it could find solution for many things.  He also appealed the Parliamentarians to find solutions for eradicating black money and corruption.  

Please listen to the inspiring speech of Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi.  The text of his speech may be downloaded from

This video may also be watched from

Full text of his speech:

Esteemed Shri Era Sezhiyan,  Award-winning Hon’ble MPs on the dais, esteemed Director of the IIT, Sri Srinivasan, Sri Sudarshan, ladies and gentlemen.
It is an honour to share the dias with Sri Era Sezhiyan.

Sri Somnath Chatterjee has said Sri Sezhiyan hs been untouched by the distortions and aberrations of our Parliamentary system. He is absolutely right.
Rajaji once said it is easy to fast sitting at home on Ekadasi but very difficult to fast sitting in the middle of Modern Café at meal time. Sri Sezhiyan has performed that miracle

Chance has to be the best designer.

Who or what but pure coincidence could have conjured four names of parliamentarians with the perfect blend of legislative credit and with all four belonging to  different parties,  different regions, different languages ?

One defect in design has however been left by that architect of concurrent incidence. I refer to the fact that all  winners are men. A  reservation – by utter chance –  for women in the play of the hand that devises these awards would be felicitous.
I salute chance.

But I do so without detracting from the inherent merit of the MPs  who have been conferred the Sansad Ratna-s. They have not achieved what they have achieved by chance, or by a fluke. They have earned their distinction.

I applaud the winners, I celebrate their achievement, I commend their example to their peers.

And yet I cannot but express a contrary opinion today. And that is : Not just these MPs, and their award winning predecessors but every MP should been found  to have done as well or as well as these three. Some have to excel. They have to stand out. Even in the Defence Forces, where every man or woman in uniform has the same valour, the same discipline, the same courage, some do get Vir Chakra-s, some Param Vir Chakra-s. But Vir they all are.

Is the case the same with our legislators ? Some may shine, some may sparkle, and some may stun by their calibre, but  are they all Ratna-s ?
Membership of the Houses of Parliament requires a level field of performance in what may be termed the basics of parliamentarianism. Has that  been happening ?  Some are regular in their attendance, others are frequent visitors. Some put a good number of questions, others keep their queries  themselves. Some make a tidy number of speeches. Others opt for silence.

Excellence is optional. Should pass-mark performance be optional too ?
It has been said speech should improve upon silence.
But silence cannot improve on silence, except in a Rishi.

And shouting cannot take the place of speech, except in a public meeting and that too only when the amplification-system has failed.

Attendance, interpellations and speeches in legislatures  are of course optional. And Hon’ble Members are entitled to opt for those forms of conservative conduct. But walk-outs too are optional,  as is raising one’s voice beyond the requirements of audition, stepping into the well of the House, tearing documents, hurling objects. That option is frequently exercised.

But, on a larger plane,  is parliamentary accountability optional ?

Is legislative duty a matter of choice ?

Is giving one’s worth as one elected to one’s electors subject to the whimsies of volition ?

Today is a magnetic anniversary, Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth anniversary. Let us ask his memory that question. I feel like saying to him ‘Sir, you will be glad to know  Parliament has a Committee on Ethics’. I can hr him rejoin with  ‘ I did not know ethics can be achieved by a committee…Do they decide on what is ethical by consensus, by majority vote or by the casting vote of its chair ?’

And I do not have the answer to that.

If that were possible, how much good, how much welfare, how much progress  we could achieve by ‘committee’ !

Alas, reality is ever a teaser.

There are grades of performance in Parliament as there are elsewhere. And one may not expect uniformity in standards of dedication. In fact one may definitely expect the opposite. One may expect variations, wide and oceanic variations in individual records.

Parliament represents the essences of India.

Parliament is in fact, ‘Essential India’.

Therefore it is important, I think, that not just individuals but Parliament as a whole passes tests, rigorous, exemplary tests. What is important is that the integrated will of the people as reflected in that body of the essences of India, be of the first rank, of the first water.

And there, let us note the fact that in all its successive avatars, the Parliament of India has shown itself to be an extraordinary institution.

Even as forum for debating, let us acknowledge the fact that we have some extraordinary spealers there. The recent debate on the Lokpal Bill saw some exceptional speeches, of which  must mention those of Sri Pranab Mukherjee, Smt Sushma Swaraj, Sri Arun Jaitley, Sri Sitaram Yechury, Sri Sandeep Dikshit, Sri Abhishek Singhvi, Smt Shobhana Bhartia, Sri D Raja. There are others who spoke effectively and persuasively as well, but these names com readily to my mind.

As a citizen, as a voter, I felt proud hearing them. Dr Ambedkar would have felt proud hearing them. I felt the people of India were speaking through them.

I do not and never shall subscribe to the cynical diminishing of our Parliament that some attempt. I do not and shall not join in any chorus of abuse hurled at that institution. For to call Parliament by any synonym of slander is to slander ourselves. Not that we as a people do not deserve to hear bitter truths about ourselves ; we do. But then we are of elements so mixed, of virtues and vices so fluxed, of highs and lows so contradictorily constituted, that we should know better than to judge too harshly or in haste an institution that is made in nothing save our own image.

Just as we as individuals, as house-holders, as institution-makers have moments when we rise above our own average, when we overcome our limitations and seek to raise ourselves to a degree of elevation above that which is natural to our state, just as we have, shall I say, moments of high reflection or deep introspection, and just as we, with all our mortal weaknesses, can sometimes rise above ourselves to an act of courage, or of candour, of credit and of commitment, so also the Parliament of India can rise and has risen, time and again, to give to its people, to those that have brought it into being, in other words, to us, the gift of its innate greatness, the fruit of its inherent wisdom, and indeed, the dower of its ripened instincts.

So high are our expectations of Parliament, so pressing our needs for its attention, and so steep our sense of its obligations to us, that our dismay and our disappointment, our sadness and often our shock at its failure to meet our aspirations blinds us to what it has done.

If that ugly stain on our society – dowry – has been outlawed in our country, it is by an act of Parliament. If dowry is still asked for without shame and given without demur, that is by our acts.
If domestic violence has been made a crime in our country, it is by an act of Parliament. If women and infants are still beaten by despicable brutes in male form, it is by acts of society.

If untouchability has been abolished in our country, let us acknowledge the fact that it has so been abolished  by the wisdom of the founding parents of our Constitution and our Parliament. If that ugly stain on our society – dowry – has been outlawed in our country, it is by an act of Parliament. Likewise, land reforms were brought in by Parliament, police reforms, prison reforms, labour law reforms, and an enactment, perhaps the first of its kind in the world,  for the prevention of cruelty to animals. All these are the gifts to the country of Parliament. And the same Parliament has bent to heed popular opinion , most notably, in the amendment to the States Reorganisation Bill which had in a rather wooden manner proposed a composite state of Bombay, to divide it far more realistically , into Maharashtra and Gujarat.

One might say all that ‘happened’ in the golden days of Jawaharlal Nehru.

And so it did. But then the record has continued.The landmark reservation of seats for women in our local bodies happened long after and , in our ‘own’ times, if domestic violence has been made a crime in our country, it is by an act of Parliament, if the NREGA is a fact of life today, giving employment and wages and nourishment to millions, it is because of Parliament, if the RTI is a household name today, utilised across the length and breadth of India, and the RTE Act promises education to India’s children, it is because of Parliament. If States have Lok Ayuktas and the Centre may – inshallah – soon have a Lok Pal it is again because our legislatures have responded according to its own lights to public opinion, to public campaigns.

We need to salute Anna Hazare for his campaign. But just imagine for a moment a country where there was no parliament, no democracy, who would Anna Hazare  have addressed ? Who would have taken his demand for steps against corruption and black money forward ?

I could go on and give more examples, but do not need to. Not in Chennai, which has sent some of the finest Parliamentarians of the world to the apex legislature of India.

Let us not judge Parliament by its low tides. Let us not measure its bench marks by the lines left on its side by receding foam-lines of sediment and dross. They do not represent the golden mean. At the other end of the spectrum, let us not see it by the leaps of its great shooting stars either, for they too are exceptional.

Let us rather judge that institution, which is nothing else than our own integrated political intelligence at work, by its averages. There we shall see a balanced picture.

Having said this, let me say the following and close:
Parliament  is by definition a vessel of dignity. Let those who row it row with knowledge. It will empower them.

Parliament is like a planetarium where the convex sky must glitter with the glow and sparkle of the entire spangled firmament, not by the episodic spark of meteors, comets and shooting stars. Those can add to the wonderment of Parliament , but not compensate for the sullen starlessness of its average sky.

Parliament cannot be held by its makers in anything but confidence, faith. Parliament hs to be the home of visvasam.

Preoccupation with the monetary, travel or status perquisites of  legislative membership when proportionate to preoccupation with serious work will never be begrudged by the people of India. We are a generous people. But when that preoccupation is out of balance, it can jar. We are an intelligent people.
Finally, it is time Parliament gave India solutions to three important problems that beset us:

  1. A solution to the ogre of black money.
  2. A solution to the related demon of corrupt practices, including the use of intimidation, physical and psychological, in elections.
  3. A solution to what Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan called “widespread inefficiency and gross mismanagement of resources”.
There is a fourth contribution that requires to be made as well. We are facing certain risks, national risks. There is the distinct prospect flowing from climate change of a water shock and a food shock. We have of course the ever-present prospect of an energy shock, fuel shock.  And we have the seemingly increase frequency of natural disasters like earthquakes. We were all shaken up on 11 April by the 8.6 that lay epicentred in Indonesia. Now, earthquakes today are no different from earthquakes millennia ago. They may be more frequent, but in their intrinsic nature they are the same as always. Yet they kill more viciously now, not because the earthquake per se has become more vicious but because the congestion of buildings and of populations has become so dense that the impact is that much worse.

What does all this have to do with Parliament?
It has everything to do with Parliament because Parliament is our essence and we must be told by it of the risks that we face, the dangers we must prepare ourselves for. Parliament must be both th harbinger of good news and initiator of great steps but it must also be the messenger of the bitter herbs of much-needed medicament in terms of honest truths told. It must give us confidence and also take us into confidence.

Let us be proud of our Parliament  and all our Legislative Assemblies, but let us strive to make them what  they are meant to be.

Four MPs honoured with 'Sansad Ratna Award 2012'

Prime Point Foundation, Chennai every year honours the top performing Parliamentarians during April / May for their performance till the end of Part I of Budget Session of that year.  

3rd Annual Awards function was held at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras on Saturday the 14th April 2012, to honour the following four MPs with 'Sansad Ratna Award'. Details of the individual performance is given in our earlier posting.

1.  Mr Anandrao Vithoba Adsul, Shiv Sena MP from Amravati, Maharashtra 

2. Mr Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, BJP MP from Chandrapur, Maharastra

3. Mr S S Ramasubbu, Cong MP from Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu


Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi presents the award to Mr S S Ramasubbu MP. K. Srinivasan (left), Mr Era Sezhiyan (centre) and Dr Bhaskar Ramamurthy (right) looking on
4.  Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal, BJP MP from Bikaner, Rajasthan


Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi presents the award to Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal MP. K. Srinivasan (left), Mr Era Sezhiyan (centre) and Dr Bhaskar Ramamurthy (right) looking on
The Sansad Ratna Awards-2012 were presented by Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Former Governor of West Bengal (grand son of Mahatma Gandhi), in the presence of Mr Era Sezhiyan, veteran Parliamentarian and Dr Bhaskar Ramamurthy, Director of IIT-M.


Mr Anandrao Adsul and Mr Hansraj Gangaram Ahir could not be physically be present to receive the Awards.  However they interacted with the audience through 'mobile' from their place.


Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had given an exclusive message for this function, which was recorded on 10th April 2012.  This video was screened for the benefit of the audience.  In his message, Dr Abdul Kalam suggested the politicians to become 'role models' by undertaking 'inspiring action'.  He said, that would further inspire the youth to take up politics and governance.  His message is separately published in the next posting.

After presenting the Awards, Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi , in his inspiring and poetic speech, appealed to every one not to slander the Parliament.  He said, it would amount to slandering ourselves.  He also quoted that there were various acts enacted by the Parliament to prevent dowry, untouchability, etc.  Still, the society violated such acts and followed their own practises.   His inspiring speech and the full text is published separately.  

A National Seminar on 'Youth in Politics and Governance - Challenges and Opportunities' was held earlier with Mr S S Ramasubbu MP, Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal MP and Mr R Bhagwan Singh, Executive Editor of Deccan Chronicle as panelists.  This panel discussed encouraged the educated and service minded youth to enter into politics to take forward the wheels of the nation.  

There was another panel discussion in the evening to discuss the 'Role of Civil Society'. Ms Jothimani (Cong), Ms Vanati Srinivasan (BJP), Ms Revathy (CPM), Ms Ajitha Karthikeyan (Political journalist) and Ms Bhavana Upadyaya (Social activist) as panelists.  This panel discussed the various issues that are preventing the youth to enter into politics.

The purpose of this seminar is to discourage the 'cynical' attitude of the society against 'politics as an institution' and to  applaud good politicians, who are running the country.    This seminar was organised jointly Prime Point Foundation and Humanities and Social Science Department of IIT, Madras.


The event was anchored by Sneha Gore and Bhanu Gomes.


Indian Overseas Bank supported this event as main sponsors.  


Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Bank of Maharashtra, UCO Bank and Corporation Bank also supported this event.  Good Relations india was the PR Partner for this event.

Please see the photo stream.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Four MPs to be honoured with 'Sansad Ratna' Award


Prime Point Foundation at the close of first part of the Budget Session every year honours the Members of Lok Sabha for their outstanding performance.  Mainly, the Members are assessed based on their (a) asking questions, (b) participation in debates, including raising important  issues under Rule 377. 193, Zero hour discussions, etc., (c ) introduction of private members bills and (d) attendance.  

Based on the data and information released by Lok Sabha, PRS Legislative Research has released the performance data as on 30th March 2012.   Based on the data, Prime Point Foundation will be honouring the following 4 MPs with Sansad Ratna Award,  for their outstanding performance in the Lok Sabha till the end of 30th March 2012 (Part I of X Session).

Mr Anand Rao Adsul :  Shiv Sena MP from Amravati, Maharashtra.  He stands No 1 for the Questions asked in the Lok Sabha.  He has asked 754 Questions.  Besides, he has also participated in 27 times in various Debates.  He has also introduced 3 Private Members Bills.   The total tally is 784.

Mr Hansraj Gangaram Ahir BJP MP from Chandrapur, Maharashtra.  During this 15th Lok Sabha, he has introduced 20 Private Members Bills and stands No 1 under this category.  He has also asked 658 Questions and participated in 77 Debates.  His total tally is 755.

Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal: BJP MP from Bikaner, Rajasthan.  He has participated 251 times in debates and stands No 1 under this category.  Besides, he has also asked 389 Questions and introduced 13 Private Members Bills.  He has attended 100% of all the sittings upto X Session.  He stands No 1 under this category also.  His total tally is 653.

Mr S S Ramasubbu: Cong MP from Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu.  He stands No 3 in the overall tally for the entire Lok Sabha and also No 1 among Tamilnadu MPs.  Till 30th March 2012, he has participated in 99 debates, asked 643 questions.  The total tally is 742.  He has also attended 97% of the sittings.

Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi (Former Governor of West Bengal Government), Mr Era Sezhiyan (Veteran Parliamentarian) and Dr Bhaskar Ramamurthy (Director of IIT) will be honouring these MPs at IC&SR Auditorium, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras on Saturday the 14th April 2012.  This event coincides with Dr Ambedkar Jayanthi, the architect of Indian Constitution.

Besides the Award function,  Prime Point Foundation  jointly with Humanities and Social Science Dept. of IIT-M has planned two panel discussions.  The theme of the first panel discussion is 'Youth in Politics and Governance - Challenges and Opportunities'.  The top performing MPs will be in the panel and share the views.

In the evening, another panel discussion on the theme 'Youth in Politics and Governance - Role of Civil Society' will be held with all new generation women panelists.  This panel will discuss about the role of educational institutions, media and NGOs in creating awareness about this among the youth.  

The purpose of this Award function and the seminar is to motivate the youngsters to get awareness about our democracy and to  involve themselves in the governance and policy making process.

For more details contact prpoint@gmail.com

Sunday, April 1, 2012

How to track performance of MPs and MLAs?

L to R: Bharathi Thamizhan, Tonusree, K Srinivasan
and Era. Sezhiyan
Indian Election Commission conducts elections every five years to elect MPs and MLAs for the Parliament and various State Assemblies.  The media hype dies down, after the elections are completed.  Unless there are some big issues or chaos in the Houses, neither the media nor the general public give serious attention to the performance of the elected members.  This process goes on for ever and the media hype starts when the next elections are announced.


PRS Legislative Research is a non profit research body at Delhi established in 2005.  They  conduct various researches on the bills, questions, debates of the Parliament and various state Assemblies.  They also periodically put out their analysis in their website.  While, US and UK have many such research bodies to analyse the performance of Legislatures, India has only one such research body.


Chennai Press Club and Prime Point Foundation jointly organised a workshop on 24th July 2010 for working journalists at Chennai to create awareness about the tracking of the performance of MPs and MLAs, with the support of PRS Legislative Research.  
The workshop was inaugurated by the veteran and well known Parliamentarian Mr Era Chezhian.  During his inaugural speech, he expressed concern over the reduction in number of sittings of Parliament during the past few years.  Before 1980, the Parliament used to meet for 120 days every year and now it has come down to around 60 days.  Mr Chezhian was also expressing his concern over the suppression of freedom of press by many Governments.  

Please watch and listen to the presentation made by Ms Tonusree on the various aspects of tracking of legislators.  Please click to play the video.  

This  video may also be watched form the following site:

Please watch the photographs taken during the occassion.

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