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MEDIA reports have it that the President, Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, has been inviting MPs of two or three States at a time in brainstorming sessions on his Vision 2020. He takes the MPs through the landmarks of India's achievements and, with PowerPoint and other aids, fires their imagination with the tremendous possibilities of future growth and the manner in which they can equip themselves to make their contribution as people's representatives and public servants. It seems that he was even able to perform the magic of bringing together Karnataka and Tamil Nadu MPs in the same session and they listened enthralled, casting away their animosities over the sharing of the Cauvery water, to his account of the heights to which India was capable of rising.

Well, there is yet another area where the President's inspiring leadership and transparent zeal to promote public weal will be of great service to Parliament and the nation. He undoubtedly knows that our MPs/MLAs think nothing of desecrating the temples of democracy that legislatures are, by converting them into arenas for pitched battles without a shred of decency. They do not even care that hundreds of thousands are watching them on the TV screens enacting scenes of no-holds-barred violence. All efforts to shame them into observing a code of civilised conduct have so far proved fruitless. Former Lok Sabha Speaker G. M. C. Balayogi succeeded in drawing up one a couple of years ago with the consent of all the parties, but even before the ink was dry members were back to their old disorderly ways.

What a heart-warming experience it was to watch the entire debate on Iraq that took place in the British House of Commons on March 18. Here was an issue that had caused a tremendous amount of disquiet and disagreement, leading to more than one-third of the strength of the ruling Labour Party breaking ranks and voting against the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair. It had led to the resignation of the Leader of the House, Mr Robert Cook, and two Ministerial colleagues. The atmosphere in the House was surcharged with a sense of foreboding over a nation being dragged to war that was considered both illegal and unjustifiable by a majority of the people.

And yet, for all the agitated frame of mind members were in, Mr Blair was heard in pin drop silence, except for occasional exclamations of approval. The members had their say, one after another, for or against, without being subjected to barracking. They maintained complete decorum throughout, and were punctilious in showing respect to the Speaker. No one intervened with a question or clarification, without seeking his explicit permission. It was a delight to watch members who had stood up to seek his permission promptly sitting down the moment the Speaker was on his feet. There was unquestioned and immediate submission to his rulings without any argument.

As a last ditch effort to house-train our MPs, why not the President make them spend a session viewing the video of the proceedings from start to finish?

B.S. Raghavan

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