Vijayawada: Ahead of A.P.'s first Assembly session to be held in the new Assembly building in Amaravati, Speaker, Dr Kodela Sivaprasada Rao says he will try his best to ensure decorum. In an exclusive interaction with The Hindu, he asserts, he will not hesitate punishing the members if they try to disrupt the proceedings. He further says, the forthcoming National Women’s Parliament scheduled in February near Vijayawada will contribute to the empowerment of women in a big way.
Q. How is the new Assembly building in Amaravati coming up? What is your take on the first Assembly session which is going to be held in February?
We have taken both the Assembly buildings of the combined A.P. in Hyderabad into consideration before giving specifications to the new building here. The construction is already completed and the final furnishings are under way. It will be fully ready by this month-end. We are planning to get it inaugurated by the Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi on February 10. Our old Assembly in Hyderabad was inaugurated by the former PM Rajiv Gandhi.
Q. How different the Assembly session is going to be? What are your expectations?
We have so far seen how Assembly and Parliament sessions are conducted. We are a new State now and we need to reflect it in the best way possible. Whatever the members do in the Assembly is watched by the people across the world. I expect all the members to cooperate and behave in a dignified manner.
Q. The members resorted to unwanted acts which led to frequent adjournments in the last couple of sessions. How do you plan to control such situations going forward?
My job is to run the House for the benefit of the people. I see to that order prevails during sessions. I appeal to all the members from the ruling party as well as the Opposition to maintain decorum. If the situation is uncontrollable and letting down the dignity of the House, some punishment will be given in certain unavoidable circumstances.
Q. There were also occasions when the Opposition said that the Speaker is taking sides and favouring the ruling party members. What do you have to say on this?
Whenever they alleged it, I asked them to review the number of hours that were given to the ruling party and the Opposition and the number of people allowed to speak from both sides. I’m on record to say that I’m impartial and I’ll be impartial.
Q. Coming to the three-day National Women’s Parliament scheduled to begin from February 10, why and how did you get this idea? Who are the key people attending it? How will be the arrangements?
I wanted to use my free time in the year for productive purposes. I have so much interest in development of women. About 50% of the populations is neglected and I personally believe that they should be empowered enough for the good of the society. We conceived the idea of The Women’s Parliament and collaborated with the Maharashtra University of Technology, Pune and went ahead. It will contribute to the empowerment of women in a big way. About 12,000 delegates are expected to attend. We have guests from across the globe. UN Women India office representative Revecca Tarves, the Dalai Lama, Nobel Laureate Md. Yunus, Speakers and Parliamentarians from across the world, ministers, scores of Speakers, MLAs, MPs from India, sportswomen and other women achievers will be taking part. All the arrangements are already done.
Q. What are the topics to be discussed and what kind of outcome is expected in the Women’s Parliament? How do you plan to culminate the session?
We have sessions on Socio-political Challenges in Women Empowerment, Status and Decision Making, Building Identity and Vision etc. We will come up with the Amaravati Declaration for Women Empowerment on the third day of the session. It will be concluded with a 1K run here.