NE must set example to Parliamentarians: Mizo CM

Aizawl, May 28 (UNI) Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga today asserted that Northeast Legislators must set an example to Parliamentarians of the country.

Mr Zoramthanga was addressing the North East Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association's (NERCPA) 11th Annual Conference which started here.

''Both the Lower and the Upper Houses at the Centre have a number of negative sides which we should not imitate. Commotions have led to adjournments of the Houses for a number of times, which further resulted in waste of public money. Sometimes I felt that the NE Legislators were much more disciplined than the Members of Parliament,'' Mr Zoramthanga said.

''We Legislators of the NE states must set an example to Parliament as well as to the other Indian states,'' he added.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee also voiced serious concern over disturbances in the House proceedings in his message to the conference.

He pointed out that over 133 hours had been wasted during 2007 following adjournments of the House, necessitated by commotion.

He hoped that the NERCPA conference would bring about positive results for the Legislators.

Following flight cancellation from Kolkata to Aizawl yesterday, the Lok Sabha Speaker and his Parliamentary colleagues could not attend the conference.

On Mr Chatterjee's behalf, Mr Zoramthanga inaugurated the meeting.

Expressing regret over the lack of infrastructure at Aizawl's Lengpui Airport which prevented the Lok Sabha Speaker from attending the conference, Mr Zoramthanga stressed, ''This shows how much the NE region has to be developed to catch up with other Indian states.

The Centre must remember that it has a lot to do in this region.'' In his message, Mr Chatterjee said even though the NE region had high percentage of literates and working women, it lagged behind the mainland due to unemployment problems and insurgency.

The huge potential of the region was yet to be fully utilised, he said, adding that peace was crucial for the development of the region.

He also pointed out that the Centre had a number of programmes to develop the NE region.

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