Leading Indian lawmaker hails Bahrain’s parliamentary march

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

A leading Indian lawmaker has praised Bahraini parliamentarians for their democratic efforts to bring welfare to the Kingdom’s population. “I have had the unique opportunity to interact with many Parliamentarians from the Kingdom of Bahrain and other Gulf nations as part of Inter-Parliamentary Union initiatives,” said Indian politician and one of the most respected parliamentarians in the country, N K Premachandran, during an interaction with The Daily Tribune.

“The parliamentary culture and systems in Gulf countries including Bahrain is very promising and I believe it has a great future in terms of addressing the issues faced by citizens and expatriates,” the Indian MP, who is on a visit to the Kingdom, pointed out.

 Bright future for democracy

 Despite the world being divided by conflicts and ill-governance, he said democracy has a bright future. “It is the only form of political governance system that has successfully survived throughout the history of mankind.

“I agree there are many defects and deficiencies when it comes to successfully implementing democracy. One of the major threats to democracy is vote-bank politics, which is fuelling sectarianism, communalism and regionalism.

“Another threat to democracy is welfare populism. Welfare populism has no ideological or philosophical backings. In India, many political parties are practising welfare populism, which will do no good to the democratic framework in the country. “Earlier, all political formations were based on certain ideologies or philosophies, which is gradually shifting towards welfare populism led by charismatic leaders.

“This tendency, backed by charismatic leadership, could easily jeopardize democratic values and practices, most often leading to ill-governance. Across the world, if you examine, you can find such tendencies blocking the ways for democratic progress.”

 China not pursuing communist policies

 A staunch leftist throughout his political career, Mr Premachandran said communists must cease viewing China as their role model. “China, to be very frank, is not strictly pursuing communist policies. They are systematically and scientifically managing a capitalistic economy using structures once established under the Communist Party frameworks.

Although China is widening its capitalistic horizons, it has got its own distinction in terms of discipline and strong character.” With regard to growing relations between India and GCC countries, the leading lawmaker said the changing geo-political situation will definitely give a platform for India and West Asian nations to further boost diplomatic ties and relations.

The Indian Parliamentarian said his country is yet to legislate a bill or enact a slew of measures that will provide comprehensive solutions to all issues faced by the expatriate community. Mr Premachandran said policy formulators in India, both at the Central and Provincial levels, have failed to devise clear cut policies aimed at the overall welfare of expatriates.

“I am not saying that nothing has been done by successive governments for the welfare of expatriates, but the steps are not adequate and more needs to be done in the form of executive policies, parliamentary resolutions and legislations,” said Mr Premachandran, who is also a member of the Parliament Standing Committee on External Affairs. “The Central and State governments have initiated many policies for Non-Resident Indians.

But there are no clear-cut policies regarding the rehabilitation of an expatriate if he/she returns home after serving in a foreign country. “NRIs have been integral contributors to the economy of India. And in Kerala, needless to say that they are the backbone of the economy.

“But, unfortunately, the successive governments have not offered them adequate consideration visa-vis their contributions. Living and employment rehabilitation of expatriates are of great importance, which is being largely overlooked. Many schemes are available, but they don’t reap any benefits for expatriates returning home in the absence of a clear-cut policy. “Even during the pandemic season, Indian expatriates have to suffer a lot of hardships as there were travel bans between countries.

As a member of parliament’s standing committee, I have taken special initiatives to legislate bills for the welfare of expatriates. “I have already introduced a private member resolution and private member bill for the safety, security and welfare of expatriates in the Indian Parliament House. It is now pending in Lok Sabha (the Lower House of Indian Parliament). I hope it will be considered and passed, paving the way for the overall welfare of all Indian NRIs.”