An Urgent Need to Reform Country’s Legislative Process

Livemint 17th February 2021 Save

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Context: Anti-defection rules and weak parliamentary conventions have hampered Parliaments’s ability to deliver.

Problems in India’s Legislative Process

Absence of debate/deliberations: According to PRS Legislative’s Functioning of 16th Lok Sabha (2014- 2019) Report, only 25% of the bills introduced in that period were referred to committees.
- In Goa’s Assembly, on average, each bill was discussed for four minutes.
Issues in Anti-Defection Rules: (under the 52nd Amendment Act)
- Damages legislative process: by restricting legislators from voting their conscience and representing interests of their constituents.
- Excludes parliamentary process and forum: all deliberations and deal-making are done in party offices, thereby legislators stop attending Parliament or legislative assembly.
- Concentration of power in party leadership: No scope for checks by coalition partners either if a party has a majority; (the prime minister or chief minister and party president hold power).
Leaves no room for consensus: and thus giving rise to the protests; which are an essential part of the democratic process and a direct line of feedback from people between elections.

Issues with the Protests:

Lack mechanism for consensus formation or discussions: on policy options thereby protests are only suitable for starting an inquiry or reopening a case or demanding a repeal or ban.
Foster binaries: i.e. one is either for or against protesters and does not make space for consensus and mediation of nuanced criticism or agreement. (causing the policy fall into a transitional gains trap).
- Agriculture needs to be reformed, but that trap can- not be wished away or solved through protests.

Conclusion: Recognising constitutional methods over anarchic: As B.R. Ambedkar warned against devolving into anarchic methods and urged to instead use constitutional methods.