‘Attendance of MPs from State in Lok Sabha poor'

Director of PRS Legislative Research, New Delhi, C.V. Madhukar said on Wednesday that the attendance of MPs from Karnataka in the Lok Sabha was the least among the four Southern States.

He was speaking at the inauguration of a workshop for journalists on “Tracking the work of MPs and MLAs” organised by the PRS Legislative Research, Udupi District Working Journalists Association, and Centre for Rural Studies, Manipal University, here.

Mr. Madhukar said that though Karnataka was said to be a progressive State, it was a puzzle as to why its MPs had a poor attendance record in the Lok Sabha. It was the duty of the MPs to make laws. They should be the voice of their respective States in the Lok Sabha, he said.

Director of Manipal Institute of Communication Varadesh Hiregange said that the aim of democracy was not just to fight for one's own rights, but also for the rights of other people. Media should work as a liaison between the Government and the people.

There was a feeling that the media was giving too much importance to politics. The media could appreciate people who did good things. But it was also the responsibility of the media to criticise those doing wrong and those not doing anything at all. Eternal vigilance was the price of democracy, Prof. Hiregange said.

The media should not get carried away by statistics provided by politicians and bureaucrats. It was up to the media to do in-depth research on any subject. Journalists should accept the challenges of their profession. They should stay within the system and fight against it. “There should be a periodic evaluation of the functioning of elected representatives,” Prof. Hiregange said.

Director of the Centre for Rural Studies Krishna Kothai welcomed the gathering.