Do not dissent at the cost of discourse, Pratibha Patil tells parliamentarians

New Delhi, July 23 (ANI): President Pratibha Patil on Monday urged the parliamentarians not voice their dissent at the cost of serious debate and legislation, while asking them to keep themselves alive to latest developments in technology and information explosion while formulating laws.

In her farewell speech to parliamentarians here, Patil pointed out that diverse political thinking is a part of any legislature, more so in India.

"Naturally, there will be arguments in the process of the search for answers, but it should never happen that in the din we loose our way forward. At the end of the day, the worth, value and respect of a legislature, is judged by its output in terms of serious debate and legislations," the outgoing president said.

The first woman president of the country also pointed out that in the last two decades, there have been changes "such as information explosion, technological innovations, increasing economic prosperity, growing materialism and in its midst the danger of losing values".

Patil maintained that governments and legislatures need to reflect on these fundamental changes.

"If unnoticed, our systems and institutions could be out-of-size and out-of-time. Therefore, deep thought should be given by honourable members to how our institutions, our administrative practices, legislatures and legal processes, can fulfil these growing demands and responsibilities effectively," she added.

Patil's tenure has seen the washout of the entire Winter Session of parliament in 2010 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National democratic Alliance (NDA) insisted on formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G-spectrum scam.

Patil will address the nation tomorrow on the eve of demitting office.

The address will be telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by English from 7 p.m. onwards.

The address will also be broadcast over all channels of All India Radio (AIR) in Hindi followed by English from 7 p.m. onwards. In addition, All India Radio will broadcast the regional language versions of the address over its regional channels from 9.30 p.m. onwards. (ANI)