Rajya Sabha Debates
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[13 August, 2015] 1 RAJYA SABHA Thursday, 13th August, 2015/22nd Sravana, 1937 (Saka) The House met at eleven of the clock, MR. CHAIRMAN in the Chair. FAREWELL TO RETIRING MEMBERS MR. CHAIRMAN: Hon'ble Members, Shri P. Kannan representing the Union Territory of Puducherry, will be retiring on the 6th of October, 2015 on completion of his term of offi ce. Similarly, two Nominated Members, namely, Dr. Ashok S. Ganguly and Shri H. K. Dua, will also be retiring on the 17th of November, 2015, on completion of their term of offi ce. As these Members would be retiring in the intervening period between the conclusion of the current Session and commencement of the next Session, I take this opportunity, on the last day of this Session, to bid them farewell. The retiring Members have contributed signifi cantly to the deliberations of this House through their active participation. On many occasions, they have infl uenced public policy to serve larger causes. They have defi nitely enhanced the dignity and prestige of this august House. I am sure that the retiring Members will continue to serve the nation in other capacities and do hope that the knowledge and experience gained by them during their association with the House will hold them in good stead in their future pursuits. The House shall ever cherish their association with this august House and hope they leave with a sense of accomplishment in having played a stellar role in strengthening the democratic system of the country. I wish them good health, happiness and success in every sphere of life. I believe, the hon. retiring Members would, as per our normal custom, wish to share their impressions, and I would call upon Shri Kannan. Not present. Dr. Ashok S. Ganguly. DR. ASHOK S. GANGULY (NOMINATED): Hon. Vice-President of India and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Shri Hamid Ansari, hon. Deputy Chairman, Prof. P.J. Kurien, Leader of the House, Shri Arun Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Shri Sharad Pawar, Shri Sharad Yadav, Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav, Sushree Mayawati, Shri Derek O’Brien, Thiru A. Navaneethakrishnan, Comrade D. Raja, Comrade Sitaram Yechury, Shri Tiruchi Siva, Sardar Sukhdev Singh 2Farewell to RAJYA SABHA retiring Members Dhindsa, Shri Dilip Tirkey, and from our small group, Shri Parasaran, who is here, I pay my respects to leaders of all political parties represented in this august House, all hon. Members, Secretary-General and his colleagues, the staff of the Rajya Sabha, who stand to serve. Sir, your decision to give me this opportunity to bid farewell is indeed a unique honour and a high water mark of my six-year term in this august House. My nomination by the hon. President of India on November 17, 2009, had suddenly propelled me into the company of all of you, into one of the most prestigious and exalted institutions of our great country. In my lifetime I have undertaken many tasks and responsibilities. However, nothing could have prepared me to fi nd myself in the august company of such a distinguished gathering of Members of the Upper House. I express my thanks and gratitude to each of you for your warm friendship and for embracing me as one of you since the day I took the oath of offi ce. The unfailing bonhomie in the Central Hall, cutting across political differences, is the most reassuring feature of our unity amongst diversity. Hon. Prof. Kurien during my six years strained me to deliver my talk within two minutes. I proudly carry Prof. Kurien’s moniker as “two minutes Ganguly” as a long lasting gift of this House. India is rapidly surging ahead in its drive towards progress. The founding fathers of Independent India had created the Upper House to debate and guide our nation towards its rightful place in the comity of nations. The twin engines of growth, economy and social justice, will continue to remain our guiding objective. However, as a famous poet said, there is indeed a long way to go before we all sleep. We have so many promises to keep. I thank you all for enabling me to be a small part of this exciting journey in my very modest role. I wish everybody in this House my very best and pray for the success in your efforts to build a modern India. Thank you and God bless. SHRI H. K. DUA (Nominated): Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me an opportunity this day, particularly in this Session, when the House has been in different pursuits, to fi nd time for us, Nominated Members, to bid farewell; it requires special efforts. Thank you very much for it. I will remember it. About six years ago, you administered the oath as a Member of Parliament, as a Presidential nominee. I am glad that it was you who gave me the oath and entrusted me with the heavy responsibility which a Member of Parliament should have. Six years have been very educative, although I was acquainted with the House earlier as a newsman. In 1964, I was in the Press Gallery reporting the Rajya Sabha. There, I began my career as a Parliamentary Correspondent, and then events went on, historic events went on unfolding both here as well as outside which I have been covering. But these six years have been particularly educative. Sir, it took me 40 years to cross 30 feet of distance to sit here. But, these six years have been more educative because you are on this side of the divide. I think, when I became a Member Farewell to [13 August, 2015] retiring Members 3 of Parliament, I did not behave like a newsman, I behaved like a Member of Parliament of a great Parliament. We, nominated Members, are not supposed to take a partisan view on an issue. And, that is the Constitutional scheme of things to expose Parliament, a House, to independent opinions of people in different walks of life. So, it is a very few lucky people who have distinguished themselves in different walks of life to earn the Presidential nomination. Sir, illustrious and distinguished citizens of India have adorned these benches where we have been privileged to sit for the last six years. We had great jurists like Shri M.C. Setalvad, Shri C.K. Daftari and Shri Fali Nariman. Great scientists like Prof. Satyendra Nath Bose, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan with whom we had the privilege of walking when we came here. I attended his 90th Birth Anniversary only two days ago in Chennai. Great poets like Shri Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Shri Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Smt. Amrita Pritam represented diversity of India as Dr. Ganguly was mentioning. Sir, fi lm-makers like Shri Shyam Benegal was also here. So, we have the kind of criteria to select these kinds of people as the Presidential nominees for the twelve seats. There are still many distinguished people here. I don't want to say much about them, because it is not their farewell. I don't want to bid them farewell. I wish them a long life and long tenure. Sir, even if we have weak vocal cards or not as much of lung power, we did our best to serve the House. In these last six years, I have seen many ups and downs of this House with which I was already familiar with. There have been some excellent debates. There were debates on Maoist violence, price rise, etc. The Nuclear Liability Bill was achieved by arriving at consensus by Mr. Arun Jaitley who is now the Leader of the House, but at that time he was the Leader of the Opposition and Mr. Prithviraj Chauhan. It was a quite considerable behind the scene effort to arrive at consensus, a formula which should still be applicable now for new situations as well. That consensus helped to get over diffi culties which the Nuclear Liability Bill had faced. And, Sir, there were great moments. Debate on the Impeachment Motion of a Kolkata High Court Judge was one of them. The House was totally unanimous on that motion which had been recommended by a Committee appointed by you, Sir. Sir, the level of the debate was very interesting and educative. Recently, only in the last Session, this House passed the Land Boundary Agreement Bill which was pending for the last forty years. This House passed it unanimously and that was a golden moment during the last six years. Whatever the people might say about the Members of Parliament, but there have been glorious moments which we can be proud of. But, at the same time, 4Farewell to RAJYA SABHA retiring Members there have been some sad moments. I witnessed tearing of Bills, tearing of the Bills at the middle of the night. Tearing of another Bill on Assam boundary from that side; so, there were sad moments. That kind of a thing I have never seen when I was a Parliamentary correspondent. There were sad moments. But, those did not dent the image of the House. But, I would still say that the Rajya Sabha is very relevant House in the Constitutional scheme of things. Running of a big democracy like India which is so diverse and varied, particularly when this is the Council of States, its importance is much more when we are talking of co-operative federalism. I would, with your permission, like to suggest what can be done to avoid stormy situations which Monsoon Session has seen. There were stormy Sessions and disturbances when UPA was in power.