'One MP per 27,000 people in Finland'

Mumbai, April 25 (IANS) There is one parliamentarian per 27,000 people in Finland which enables an MP to know a majority of his voters, speaker of the European country's parliament Eero Olavi Heinaluoma said here Wednesday.

As he called on Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan here, Heinaluoma said he has tremendous respect for India's democracy.

Currently on a visit to India, Heinaluoma was accompanied by Ambassador of Finland Terhi Hakala and a group of senior parliamentarians from Finland.

Speaking to the governor, Heinaluoma said the Finnish Parliament has 200 members, which translates to one parliamentarian per 27,000 people. The ratio is much higher in India.

This relatively small percentage of voters enables a parliamentarian to know the majority of his voters, he said. Recalling his visit to the Lok Sabha, he said he has tremendous respect for India's democracy.

Hakala, while speaking to Sankaranarayanan said 25-30 Finnish companies are working in Maharashtra, mostly in Pune and Mumbai, adding that these companies afford employment opportunities to a good number of people.

Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union.

In India, the two houses of parliament - Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - have a combined strength of 795. The lower house has 545 members while the upper house has 250 members. The population of India is 1.21 billion which makes the average much higher in India.