Outstanding Parliamentarian Award to Arun Jaitley, Karan Singh, Sharad Yadav

New Delhi, August 12: President Pranab Mukherjee will give away outstanding Parliamentarian Award to senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, Congress veteran Karan Singh and Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav today at a function.

Arun Jaitley gets the award for the year 2010, Karan Singh for 2011 and Sharad Yadav for 2012. The announcement regarding their selection for the award was made way back in March last year.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, who is Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who chairs the Indian Parliamentary Group, will grace the occasion and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be present.

Jaitley, Karan Singh and Sharad Yadav are currently members of Rajya Sabha. When selected for the award, Yadav was a Lok Sabha member from Madhepura, Bihar. Jaitley and Singh were members of the Upper House from Gujarat and Delhi respectively.

The Indian Parliamentary Group had instituted the award in 1994. The then Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar had constituted an award committee to select the member for the award for the three years. The executive committee of the group had unanimously accepted the recommendation of the award committee.

Addressing the occasion, Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman, M. Hamid Ansari has said that the Parliament of India is a forum for debate, discussion, legislation and accountability.

Each of these requires the ability to advocate one's viewpoint cogently. Each requires knowledge of the subject and an ability to present it succinctly.

Addressing on the occasion of "Presentation of the Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards for the years 2010, 2011, 2012" to Union Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, Congress leader Karan Singh and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president, Sharad Yadav" in the Central Hall of the Parliament here today, he opined that a good debater is one who has the power to persuade, impress and transform.

A great debater has the capacity to touch the audience emotionally and possibly even bring about a change of mind.
He said that an outstanding parliamentarian, besides possessing these virtues in ample measure, is thoroughly familiar with the rules, procedures and precedents of the House and has the ability to use them deftly to his or her advantage.

Ansari said that the three Honourable Members selected for the awards possess these attributes and have put them to excellent use over a period of time. Yet each is unique in regard to background, experience, oratorical skill, persuasive methodology. Together, they are studies in contrast. He congratulated Arun Jaitley , Karan Singh and Sharad Yadav on the recognition bestowed on them today.

Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the importance of the combination of three qualities "Netritva, Kartutva, Vaktutva" - Leadership, Action and Speech - as essential in the making of an Outstanding Parliamentarian.

Addressing the Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards function at the Balyogi Auditorium in Parliament Library today, the Prime Minister urged the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to convene a meeting of Speakers of all Vidhan Sabhas, so that the practice of awarding outstanding legislators could be extended to the states as well.

Complimenting the three award winners Arun Jaitley, Karan Singh and Sharad Yadav for their contribution to Parliament, the Prime Minister hoped that younger MPs would learn from the examples set by them.

The Prime Minister said the country is looking at Parliament with a lot of hope, adding that it may also be worthwhile to conduct a survey among the people as to how they judged a particular session of Parliament. This may be an eye-opener, the Prime Minister said.

PM Modi regretted the decline of the use of wit and humour in the proceedings of Parliament in recent years. Also he said sharp comments can give us space for a short time - but cannot impact or inspire. He said the time had come when every sentence said in Parliament should be an inspiration for the country.