Her Majesty’s Parliament

CONTEXT: Suspending Question Hour, temporarily due to COVID safety measures, in both Centre and few States, is a symbol of the disdain for legislature shared by many governments in power.  

Issues with Indian Parliamentary System

• Weak Parliamentary scrutiny: Due to frequent disruptions, frequent use of adjournment motion, etc. lead to disruption of House, leading to a loss in productivity and accountability during sessions.

• Passing Bill: Legislature is viewed just as an institution to get the bill passed, or to make proposal and not ask questions.

• The normalisation of disruption: 2016 Vidhi Centre for legal policy study shows more than 60% of Parliament was spent on disruption, during NDA as opposition and also when UPA was in opposition.

• In 2015 monsoon session, out of 270 starred question, only six were answered orally, spending 10 minutes out 541 minutes house was productive.

• Poor record of states: States has even poor record in sittings and deliberations. 

• Replacement of Parliamentary debates with one way communication on social media.

• People Speaking truth to power are often complicit in putting themselves above the issues they agitate about.
• Debates and deliberation have been replaced by hectoring, righteousness and lack of self-reflection.

Need for Parliamentary System:

• Holding the Executive Accountable: By opposition asking questions to executives about functioning of the ministries 

• Questioning of executives has led to unearthing of many scandals and inefficiencies lurking in the governance system.

• For, E.g. Questioning of Finance Minister in 1957, led to setting up of inquiry committee on Life Insurance Corporation of India, which unearthed financial scams.

• Epitome of Deliberative Democracy: It provides opportunity for disagreement, deliberations, concern for those in different circumstances and accommodation. 

• Democracy beyond voting:  Democracy cannot be hyper simplified into exercise of voting since views keep on changing with new information. Hence Parliament provides space to ask a sharp question for consensus building.

• For effective Governance: During Pandemic questioning, executives become necessary more than ever in order to have effective governance.

Conclusion: Without introspection and reinvention, Parliament and Legislative bodies would soon become like councils set up by Colonisers, which lack in substance but all the procedures are followed.