The Hon'ble Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament, Shri Charnjit Singh Atwal, made a brief statement at the closing session of the 4th Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians, Colombo.

He began by expressing satisfaction with the contents of the deliberations of the Conference. He went on to the reiterate the need for parliamentarians of the SAARC region to have regular and periodic meetings to exchange views and experiences in order achieve greater mutual understanding, trust and friendship in the region. As elected representatives of the people, parliamentarians would complement and supplement the political, economic and cultural relations among the SAARC countries.

Shri Atwal underlined the need for parliaments everywhere to devise mechanisms for ensuring that the public good always prevails over private interests, as he had in his opening statement at the Conference. He noted that the greatest threat to good governance no longer came from conflicting political ideologies but from corrupt practices. He outlined some of the measures adopted by the Indian Parliament to ensure honesty and transparency in the working of public institutions. Ethics Committees have been set up in both Houses of Parliament to make recommendations on strengthening probity in public life. The Right to Information Act passed in 2005, which gives ordinary citizens the right to question the workings of any public authority, is a valuable tool to promote transparency and accountability. He also mentioned the live telecast of the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament which has served to bring Parliament closer to the people.

Shri Atwal closed his remarks by once again thanking the Speaker of Sri Lankan Parliament, the Hon'ble W.J.M. Lokubandara for the arrangements made. Shri Atwal and the three Members of Parliament would be departing for India on 3rd April, 2006.