Her Majesty’s Parliament

The Economic Times     19th September 2020     Save    

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    • Debates and deliberation have been replaced by hectoring, righteousness and lack of self-reflection.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.