New Delhi, Jan 18: President Pranab Mukherjee Saturday called for collective thinking by political parties to confirm smooth running of parliament, and amending existing rules to curb disruptions, if necessary.

Disruption of parliamentary proceedings cannot be tolerated under any circumstances, Mukherjee said while delivering the 10th Nehru Memorial Lecture on “Nehru and Parliamentary Democracy” at the Nehru University (JNU) here.

“There should be collective thinking by political parties and leaders of our country on how to ensure smooth running of our parliament and legislative assemblies and whether some of the existing rules need to be amended for the aim,” he said.

“Dissent should be expressed with decency and among the contours and parameters of parliamentary devices,” he added.

The president said 9.95 % of the total time in the 10th Lok Sabha was lost due to interruptions and the figure rose dramatically, reaching 37.77 % in the 15th Lok Sabha.

He said the first Lok Sabha (1952-57) passed 319 bills compared to 247 passed in the 14th Lok Sabha (2004-2009).

“Parliamentarians should see legislation as their 1st and foremost responsibility. there’s need for utmost caution in matters of legislation, money and finance.”

Mukherjee the faculty on the school and students of JNU to play a major role in bringing into debate Nehru’s ideals as well as practice with regard to democracy.