Panaji, June 8 - Legislators need to be conscious of "self styled" civil society members questioning the role of the legislature in India, Goa governor Bharat Vir Wanchoo said Friday.

Speaking at the inauguration of an orientation programme for legislators the newly-appointed governor said that it was a "sad commentary" on affairs that people were expressing lack of confidence in legislative bodies in India.

"We need to be conscious that some self-styled civil society members are questioning the role of our legislatures and it is therefore your responsibility to ensure that as elected representatives you remain worthy of the trust reposed in you by the people," Wanchoo said, after specifically taking leave from the audience in order to be "candid on the current state of affairs in our country and the public perception".

"The integrity and independence of legislature needs to be preserved and protected at all costs with no room for compromise. You have to rise resolutely to create and not kill, to construct and not destroy, to represent and not to repress," the governor, a former police officer who was head of the elite Special Protection Group (SPG}, told Goa's legislators.

Exhorting the elected representatives to lead people in the true sense of the word, Wanchoo also said that legislators should use the media to create public opinion.

"You have to lead and create public opinion and provide media with serious content to raise levels of public discourse," Wanchoo said.

--Indo-Asian news service

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