Lessons on Constitution, House with a wellness dose: Karnataka Speaker set to hold camp for first-time MLAs

The Speaker said the camp would introduce 70 first-time MLAs to the functioning of the legislature, the rules and regulations to be followed, the role envisaged for the legislature by the Constitution of India and the nature of the various kinds of debates and avenues available to the legislators for highlighting issues of their constituencies.

The camp is likely to be held at the Shantivana naturopathy resort in the Dakshina Kannada district or the Kshemavana naturopathy camp near Bengaluru. Both of these are operated by the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Trust, which is headed by Rajya Sabha MP Veerendra Heggade.

While the Speaker hinted that the camp could be held at Shantivana, his secretariat said the dates were being finalised for a camp at the Kshemavana wellness centre.

“The dates of the 3-4 day camp and the list of guest speakers at the camp are being finalised. The Speaker has a few people in mind and the process of extending invitations and confirmation of participation is currently underway. The final details are expected in a week,” MK Vishalakshi, the Assembly secretary said.

“Apart from training on the functioning of the legislature, the programme for the new MLAs will also focus on the fitness, wellness and the physical and mental health of legislators,” an official in the Assembly secretariat said.

Since his election last month, the new Speaker has been referring to books and resources available in the legislature’s library in Bengaluru to encourage first-time legislators to bring themselves up to speed on matters of the Constitution and legislative functioning.

Khader, 53, who is the first Muslim to assume the Speaker’s chair in the state Assembly, also asked young legislators to study the work of individuals such as B R Ambedkar to understand constitutional values.

“I would like to remember the words of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar who said that those who do not know the right history cannot create the right present or the right future. This must be a warning for all and we must look at history in a proper manner by utilising the facilities like the legislature library and the books in it. The main guiding light for us should be the Constitution of India created by Dr Ambedkar,” he said in his first speech.

Among the two sites proposed for the camp for new legislators, the Shantivana SDM Yoga and Nature Hospital in Dakshina Kannada, has been frequented for long by politicians to destress from the daily grind of politics. In 2018, Siddaramaiah also spent 12 days for a detox there after the Congress lost the Assembly polls and had to subsequently form an alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular).

The Kshemavana Wellness Centre at Nelamangala, part of the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Institute of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences (SDMINYS), was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on September 1 last year. At the time, Adityanath had congratulated Veerendra Heggade for taking forward traditional forms of Indian medicine through the institute.