Hon'ble Prime Minister (Shri Narendra Modi):
Hon'ble Chairman and respected Members of the House I congratulate all the MPs present here for this 250th session. The journey that has taken place during these 250 sessions, all the people who have_ contributed in this so far, they all are entitled to greetings, I respectfully remember them. Chairman Sir, when you were just presenting two different‘ events in a very articulate way, I think that people who are fond of writing in the country will definitely look at it now, will write 250 sessions . It is a time lapse in itself, it is not so, it has also been a thought journey. As you said that once such a bill came along with it the new Bill came in this way. Time changed, ‘circumstances changed and this House assimilated the changed circumstances and tried to mold itself. I think it is ai very big thing and all the Members of the House who have worked till then deserve compliments.

Otherwise someone can think that 20 years ago I had taken this stand so how can I change my stand now. The manner in which you have articulately presented this thing, that reflects our thought process, the path of growth of India and also that how India has the capacity to lead the world in various new fields. This House has done this work, therefore this House feels proud in its own self. I feel priviledged that I got an opportunity today to witness this significant occasion and also -to be able to participate in it. It is clear that architects of Constitution were discussing some time whether there should be one House or two Houses, but the experience tells us today that whatever arrangement was formulated by architects of Constitution, that has been very appropriate and its contribution has been very significant. If the Lower House is linked to the ground, the Upper House can see far and wide.

Therefore, the Lower House reflects the contemporaneous things in the path of growth of India linked to the ground whereas farsightedness of the great persons sitting in the Upper House bestowes upon us their experience. This way we have seen the combination of the two through both the Houses. This House witnessed many historical moments. It has made history, and also seen the history being made as well as achieved great success in giving tum to the history if required. In the same manner, reputed and well known great persons of this country have led this House, have participated in this House and consequently have further enhanced the path of growth of our country. Many things were to be given shape after independence. Lot of things have already taken shape after 50-60 years, but we had to pass through the fear of unknown during initial stages. It is appreciated that all those who led through that phase with maturity and contributed their lot were great persons.

Hon'ble Chairman Sir, this House is very distinctive and has two special aspects. One is that it is permanent or lets say etemal, and other is its diversity. It is permanent or etemal in the sense that it has never dissolved so far since its inception and will never dissolve whereas Lok Sabha dissolves. People will come and go but this system will remain eternal. This is its own characteristic. The other is diversity because here the priority is the representation of the States. The spirit of federal structure of India motivates us each moment here. In this House we can see the power of the formula related to ‘Unity in Diversity’ in India or the diversity of India and many times it is reflected also here. In this way we continue to march ahead with these diversities. Another benefit of this House is that it is not easy for everyone to fight and win the elections, therefore their utility does not diminish in the national interest.

Their experience and their capability are equally valuable, hence this is a place where the country continues to benefit from the experiences and capabilities of great persons belonging to various fields. They have contributed immensely in the policy formulation of the country and have done so very often. Whether it is scientists, sports people, artists or writers, the experiences of many such great personalities have benefited our country through this House, for whom It would have been very‘ difficult to come across the election arena. Because of this arrangement, in these two hundred and fifty sessions, we have got the richness of our intellectual property. I believe that one of the biggest examples of this is Babasaheb Ambedkar himself, because for some reason he was not allowed to reach the Lok Sabha. This was the same Rajya Sabha where the country benefited a lot due to Babasaheb Ambedkar. We are proud that this is the same House from where the country got the benefit of many great men like Babasaheb Ambedkar. Sir, it has also been observed that there was a long period where there was nothing like opposition and the opposition was very low. There has been such a long period. At that time, the people who were sitting in the government system were very fortunate, this is not the situation today. Today there is a struggle at every step, there is opposition at every step, but at that time the opposing side was minimum, but even then there were very experienced and learned people in this house who never allowed autocracy in the governance system. Hard work has been done in this House to motivate people sitting in the right direction. We can be proud of the great service, done through this House. It is memorable for all of us.

Chairman Sir, I would like to present before you what our first Vice President, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, said in relation to this House. What Dr. Radhakrishnan had said while sitting on this chair, that is equally relevant today. You mentioned the point of ,the respected Pranab Mukherjee or express your own pain, all these things are in it. At that time Dr. Radhakrishnan ji said, "Our thoughts, our behavior and our thinking will justify our parliamentary system of two Houses. This bicameral system, which is part of the Constitution, will be tested by our actions. We will be our first Weare introducing two Houses in the ours parliamentary system first time. Our effortshould be to justify this system in our country with our thinking, strength and understanding."

After a journey of two hundred and -fifty sessions and with so much of experience, the responsibilitiesof the present members and the generations to come increases even more that whether we are not going down below what Dr. Radhakrishnan had expected from us? Are we meeting those expectations or are we adding more good value to those expectations in the changing era, today is the time to think all about this. I am confident that the present generation and the §next generation of this House will continue to strive to fulfil these expectations of Dr. Radhakrishnan.

As the Honorable Chairman has said, if we consider the last two hundred and fifty sessions, then many important, historical"bills have been passed from here, which became the law of the country and became the basis of running the life of the country. If I look at the accounts of the last five years, it is a matter of I great luck for me that I have also got an opportunity to witness many important events. - I had the privilege of hearing everyone's scholarly views and have got the opportunity to see many things afresh in this House. For this I myself have been benefited and I am also grateful to everyone. If we learn and understand the things, we achieve a lot and that is what I have experienced here. For me, the opportunity that comes sometimes to me to witness your thoughts, is a privilege in itself. If we look at the last 5 years, this is the House where we were apprehended about the passage of Bill on Triple Talaq, everyone thought that it would be stuck here. It is the maturity of this House that it has done a very important job on women empowerment.

Every effort has been made in our country to create tension and conflicts in the matter of reservation, but it is a matter of ‘pride that this House decided to give 10 percent reservation to the poor families of the general class and there was no tension anywhere in the country, there was no opposition rather it created a sense of understanding. This was done due to this House only. Similarly, we know that each and every person in the government has worked hard for a longtime on GST. There are shortcomings in it or not, it should be improved or not, the debate will continue on all these things, but this House has made a consensus to give direction to the country towards the one nation one tax system and because of that we are able to place our views in the world with a new confidence. Unity and integrity of the country - Promises were made in this House in 1964 that this will be done within a year, what could not be done was related to the Sections 370 and 35A. This House gave direction to the country first, later the Lok Sabha has done it. Therefore, the role that this House has played within such an important decision for the unity and integrity of the country is also its feature in itself. This House will also remember that Article 370 came within the Constitution and it was introduced by Mr. N. Gopalaswamy who wasthe first leader of this House, he ‘was the first leader who introduced the same and this House only abolished that law with great pride. That incident has now become a history, but it was done here only.

Our constitution makers had given a responsibility to us that our priority is - a welfare State but at the same time, we do have a responsibility and that is - welfare of the States. It means that in India we should work as a welfare State, but at the same time, welfare of the States is also our responsibility. The centre and the States, together can advance the country. This House has played a vital role in this as this represents the States "and it has given strength to our constitutional bodies. Our federal structure is the most irnportant condition for the development of our country and if the centre and State governments work together, only then progress is possible.‘ The Rajya Sabha ensures that the central and State governments are not rivals in the country. We work as participants to take the country forward by participating.» Representatives sitting here take the extracts of ideas that are exchanged here to their states and place those ideas in front of their State governments. It is necessary to motivate the State governments to connect with them directly or indirectly.

The development of the country and the development of the States - these are not two separate things, the development of the country is not possible without the development of the States and if the growth of the country is opposite to the development of the States, even then the States can not develop. This House reflects these things the most with liveliness. reflecting . The Central Government make a number of policies and this is the House and Members thereof, which can bring the expectations, situation, experience and day to day problems of the States in those policies in an effective manner. This benefits our federal structure also. The Government of India and the State Governments together can advance the country. All the work is not going to be done simultaneously, some work will be done in these five years, then some work will be done in the next five years, but it sets a direction and this House determines the direction.

Hon'ble Chairman, Sir when the 200th session of this House was held in 2003, there was a function held and that time also NDA was in power. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister at that time. ‘The speech delivered by shri Atal ji during that 200th session was very interesting. He had a style of his own .to present the things. He said that second chamber exists to enhance the power of our parliamentary democracy and he also warned that it should not be a mistake to make this second house a secondary House. When I was reading those views of Atal ji, I also felt that according to present time if it has to be presented in a new way, then I will say that Rajya Sabha is a second House, never a secondary house and it should remain a supportive House for development of India. When our parliamentary system completed its 50 years, Atal ji made a speech and in that speech he told one thing with great poetic spirit. He had said, "The flow of a river is good as long as its banks are strong." And he said that the parliamentary flow of India, our democratic process have the Lok Sabha at one side and the Rajya Sabha on another side. Unless and until these two sides will remain strong, only then the flow of democratic traditions proceed in a very precise way. This was said by Atal ji at that time.

One thing is certain that India has a federal structure, it is full of diversities and it is important to hold the national perspective at any cost. We always have to keep the national perspective in the centre, but we have to balance the regional interests with the national perspective in a very precise way, only then we will be able to carry that sentiment with balance. This is the House which can do this very well- It can be done by the Members of this House. I believe that we are making continuous efforts in this direction. In this way the idea of check-and balance is very important for the basic principles of Rajya Sabha, but it is very important to maintain a gap between checking and clogging. It is very important for us to maintain balance between balance and blocking. Many of our Members repeatedly say that the House should be for deliberation, for dialogue and for discussion. If harsh discussions take place, there is no harm in that ,but it is necessary to adopt path of discussion in stead of interruptions.

Today, I am referring to two parties, there may be such more parties, but I would like to mention two parties today - NCP and BJD. Forgive me if someone else's name is missed, but I am referring to two parties. Look at the speciality of these 'two parties that they have maintained a self discipline and decided not to go to the Well. I can see that not even a single Member has broken this rule even once. We all political parties will have to leam, including my own party, all of us have to learn that despite following this rule, there has been no disruption in the political development of NCP and BJD. That means we can win the hearts of people, we can win the trust of people even without coming in the Well. Therefore, I understand that those who have set such high traditions have not suffered any political loss. I want to tell everyone including treasury bench that why don't we learn something from them? They are present in front of us. We also did this thing, when "we were sitting there, so I am saying for the whole of the House that both NCP and BID have followed this discipline in a very good way. It should also be discussed at time, we should thank them. I believe that today when we are starting the 250th Session, such good events should be mentioned and it should be brought in the knowledge of the people. I am sure that all members continue to play their role in doing whatever is necessary for the dignity of the House. Your pain and agony keeps on appearing. We will all try that on the 250th Session, we all, including us, will take a pledge, so that you have least trouble, your feelings are respected and we make efforts as fellow members with you to run this House according to your wishes. With this resolution, I again wish you all the best at this important junction.