Parliamentary Democracies: 250 million Quit Poverty in India Deepak Razdan 15 January, 2026 As the world struggles to draw up a peace agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine War and watches Iran’s anti-government protests, India is hosting a conference of Commonwealth Speakers to take stock how Parliaments are strengthening people’s faith in democratic institutions. The 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC), is being attended by about 60 Speakers and Presiding Officers of 42 Commonwealth nations and focusing on the centrality of people in democracies. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the conference on 15th January and narrated how Parliamentary democracy in the country had helped 250 million citizens come out of poverty. This, he said, proved wrong all those who doubted that India would not be able to deliver on development due to its vast diversity. India showed its diversity was really its strength, Modi said. Speaking on t...