V-P Dhankhar calls for accountability of MPs

New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) Against the backdrop of Parliament witnessing poor productivity due to disruptions, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday called for accountability of lawmakers and said people would force them to think why they were sent to Parliament.

He also said that for any democracy to succeed, expression and dialogue must go hand in hand with great responsibility on both sides.

Dhankhar is the Rajya Sabha's ex-officio chairman.

Calling for accountability among parliamentarians, he said, "... Make no mistake, I am referring to parliamentarians. People have learned to take disorder as order. There is no sense of revulsion." Hopefully, people will write and their thoughts will move, the vice-president said, according to an official statement.

"People will force you to think, why did you go there (Parliament)?" he said.

Addressing awardees of the Chaudhary Charan Singh Awards - 2024, the vice-president said agriculture was the spine of rural development.

"Unless agriculture develops, the rural landscape cannot be changed. And unless the rural landscape changes, we cannot aspire to have a developed nation," he said.

For India to be a developed nation by 2047, people's income must increase eightfold that, he said, was a "daunting challenge".

Dhankhar also laid stress on the need for strengthening the village economy.

"The greatest market we have is agricultural produce, yet farming communities are hardly involved with it. The farming sector must be prioritised by governments for it to become an engine of economic development," he added.

The Chaudhary Charan Singh Awards - 2024 were presented for contributions to agriculture, rural development and journalism.

Senior journalist Neerja Chowdhury; Rajendra Singh, described as the "Waterman of India"; Firoz Hossain and Pritam Singh were the awardees.

Separately, a statement by the Kisan Trust said the awards were presented on Saturday and the event was attended by Union ministers Dharmendra Prradhan and Jayant Chaudhary.

Inaugurating the event on Saturday, Pradhan lauded Charan Singh's legacy that, he said, continued to inspire those working tirelessly for the uplift of India's farmers and rural communities.

Union minister Chaudhary said the current policies of the Narendra Modi government reflected the vision of Charan Singh.

His vision on procurement prices, debt relief for farmers, land reforms and the uplift of landless people is still relevant, he said, according to the Kisan Trust. PTI