Parliament Is Abdicating Its Oversight Role

Context: The 2021 monsoon session is another example of Parliament being quite ineffective in all its functions.

2021 Monsoon session of Parliament ended in disappointment

• No discussion on critical policies: Many important issues had not been discussed 
• Such as the Pegasus controversy, the Chinese incursion into Ladakh, the economic situation, rising prices of many essential items, and farmers’ problems.
• Neglecting COVID-19 response and strategy scrutiny: There was no discussion in Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha had a discussion on the management of COVID-19, which lasted nearly five hours.
• Frequent disruptions: Both Houses were frequently disrupted as the Government and Opposition parties could not agree on the topics to be debated. 
• The Lok Sabha worked for just 19% of its originally scheduled time, and the Rajya Sabha for 26%.
• Diminishing scope for scrutiny: The Government pushed through 20 Bills, mostly without any discussion. Of the 18 Bills passed by the Lok Sabha, only one saw a discussion over 15 minutes.
• Every Bill introduced during the session was passed within the session. 
• While we have seen such behaviour in State Assemblies (in 2020, 91% of all Bills in 19 Assemblies were passed within five days of introduction), this is a new development for Parliament. 
• In the period of the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14), 18% of the Bills were passed within the same session. This rose to 33% in the 16thLok Sabha and is at 70% halfway through the current Parliament.
• There has been a sharp downward trend in Bills being referred to the Parliamentary Committees, from 71% in the 15th Lok Sabha to 27% in the 16th, and 12% in the current one.
• Weakening financial scrutiny: The supplementary demand for grants for Rs 23,675 crore was passed by the Lok Sabha without any discussion. 
• Absenteeism: There was an amendment moved in the Rajya Sabha to refer the Tribunals Reform Bill to a select committee of that House, and the motion was rejected by 79 votes to 44. 
• Given that there are currently 232 members, this indicates that nearly half the members were absent during the vote.

Conclusion: Parliament appears to be quite ineffective in all its functions. The responsibility of Parliament to have a check on executive power is fully negated.