21 October,2011 07:19 AM IST | | MiD Day Correspondent
The two-day gala event marking the platinum jubilee of the State Legislature at Vidhan Bhavan caught the attention of Mumbaikars, with President Pratibha Patil gracing the event and making some important observations.
In her address, she emphasised the need to speed up development projects, saying, "People are eager to see overall progress, and legislators too feel burdened by these expectations. The government should pay attention, and ensure the timely completion of development projects."
She also pointed out how MLAs in the Chhattisgarh Assembly recently took a unanimous decision to never resort to anarchical or unruly means during debates. Both observations are important for MLAs in Maharashtra, in the wake of complaints pouring in fromu00a0 commoners that no fresh proposals of development are being sanctioned, and approved projects are undergoing inordinate delays, owing to financial or logistical problems.u00a0
It is interesting that Patil spoke of the decision taken by the MLAs in the Chhattisgarh Assembly to refrain from chaos or outbursts of anger. Thisu00a0 could be an eye-opener for our legislators, where matters often disintengrate into chaos. It is telling that in the 75th anniversary of its Assembly, the state of Maharashtra has to learn lessons from a young neighbouring state that was carved out from Madhya Pradesh not very long ago.u00a0
The organisers also received flak, with the lengthy programmes having to be cut short. The debates were lacklustre, with experts from different fields nowhere to be found. It began with a bang, but ended with a whimper. What a way to waste an opportunity!
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