The 18^th All India Whips’ Conference was inaugurated by Shri Ananthkumar, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Chemical & Fertilizers today at Udaipur, Rajasthan. Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Smt. Vasundhara Raje, presided over the inaugural session as the Chief Guest. The two-day conference is hosting around 90 Delegates belonging to 19 States and Centre.  The conference will conclude on 9^th January, 2018.

In his inaugural address, Shri Ananthkumar informed that the duty of a Whip is not only to monitor the Members of the party in Legislature but also to moderate and motivate them. He compared the Whips Conference to twin Rainbows – Rainbow of various Political Parties and Rainbow of various States and stated that Parliamentary Democracy is the best form of democracy.  The entire purpose of this conference is to strengthen the parliamentary democracy, its institutions and ultimately serve the people at large, the Minister added.

Smt. Vasundhara Raje welcomed all the delegates to State of Rajasthan and to city of Lakes, Udaipur and expressed her happiness that her State is hosting the prestigious Conference.  She impressed that the debates held in Legislatures should be cordial and graceful, aimed at making a difference to the lives of the people of the country.

On this occasion a coffee table book ‘New India – We Resolve to make’ showcasing exhibitions held at 39 destinations across the country on India’s freedom movement from 1857 to 1947 showing the various activities initiated to attain the freedom from British Rule and the five-year period from 2017 to 2022 to provide a unique opportunity of ‘Sankalp se Sidhi’ towards a ‘New India’ was released by Smt. Vasundhara Raje.

During the day, two Sessions will be held, first to deliberate on the Action Taken Report on recommendations of the last two conferences, received from the States/UTs and second, an interactive session on Efficient Functioning of Legislatures. On the last day, the delegates will deliberate on rolling out of e-Vidhan in State Legislatures to digitize and make their functioning paperless.

Other dignitaries present on the occasion included Shri Vijay Goel, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Statistics and Programme Implementation, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and Shri Rakesh Singh, BJP Chief Whip in Lok Sabha. Ministers of Government of Rajasthan included Shri Gulab Chand Kataria, Home Minister and Shri Rajendra Singh Rathore, Parliamentary Affairs Minister.

The conference provides a platform to Whips of various political parties – ruling as well as opposition at the Centre as well as the States to exchange their views and experiences and discuss the challenges facing them in discharge of their Parliamentary duties and evolve norms for efficient working of parliamentary machinery.

 

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