- Trust our elected representative to make every possible effort to score brownie points over the opposition on matters of even relative importance ostensibly citing the larger interest of the nation as a reason(s). People in the know would have seen any number of attempts undertaken by political creed over the years quoting similar reasons. Of course, the intended spirit and a sense of responsibility expected from every single elected representative to formulate laws for the advancement of the country is often mentioned but not followed in reality. Most often than not the narrative follows a rhetoric routine.
PC: MKH-admin
- Conversely speaking, the nation is under the grip of pandemic-induced economic damages rendering millions looking for decent survival is not a pressing issue for the political leaders to indulge in politicking. The monsoon session amply displayed how insensitive our leaders are in highlighting the challenging situation. The monsoon session of Parliament had promised so much vis-a-vis addressing matters of great concerns like economic downturn, vaccine challenges, large scale unemployment, uncertainty surrounding future happenstances, continuing farmer protests, evolving security scenario in eastern as well as western borders, and looming threat of possible third Covid wave.
- The opposition parties were expected to corner the treasury benches on these extremely relevant issues to elicit assurances from the ruling dispensation alongside a concrete roadmap to implement the same. However, the opposition chose to embrace the alleged Pegasus spyware with all its might disrupting the proceeding of both the Houses is grossly disappointing. With both the Government and the Opposition parties sticking to their guns that saw perpetual disruptions in the proceedings of the Parliament, the monsoon session was adjourned sine die on Wednesday last week not before witnessing ugly scenes of jostling between MPs and marshals in the Rajya Sabha.
PC: Aditi Tandon
- Note that it was the fourth consecutive session that ended before its scheduled close. Data compiled by PRS Legislative Research makes for grim reading. Marked by repeated disruptions, it functioned for less than a quarter of the allocated time. Yet, in all, 20 bills were passed, which is a reflection of the dangerous trend of lack of adequate debate before citizens and businesses are forced to adjust to new laws. It is also extremely disappointing to note that on average, Lok Sabha passed a bill in 34 minutes and Rajya Sabha in 46 minutes without resorting to meaningful debate on the matter. Sadly, the sad situation prevailing is not new either suggesting a structural problem existing for a long time now.
- Since the Speaker enjoys discretionary power, there is a case to reduce the same as in adjournment motion dealing with matters of urgent public importance. A shift to a more rules-based approach here will minimize the incentive for the opposition to resort to disruptions. There is another equally important issue of lack of adequate debate resulting in poor quality legislation. Parliament works through multi-partisan committees to deal with granular aspects of bills. This system is breaking down as none of the 15 bills introduced in the monsoon session were referred to a parliamentary committee as is the norm. Consequently, we neither have a meaningful debate in Parliament nor a thorough discussion in a committee. This predominantly counterproductive condition can be changed only via consensus. There lies the rub, you see.
