As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of our independence there is much in which we can take pride, including the fact that we have worked a vibrant democracy with a free press, independent judiciary, justiciable fundamental rights and all the freedoms that are guaranteed under the Constitution, and have achieved an impressive annual rate of economic growth. This itself is a remarkable achievement, considering the fact that the birth of the nation was accompanied by the massive trauma of Partition. Also, when the British left, the country was a patchwork quilt of princely states all the way from Jammu and Kashmir down to Cochin.That we were able, in these circumstances, not only to forge a united nation but to integrate and rationalise our provinces and establish a functional federal polity is a tribute to the visionary leaders who were at the helm of affairs at the time of independence — Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, B.R. Ambedkar and Abdul Kalam Azad. The framing of our Constitution, the longest and most detailed in the world, provided the foundations upon which the structure of our nation is built. Its flexibility, shown from the fact that it has been amended 92 times since its adoption in 1950, has given us the necessary resilience to meet the changing demands of our polity and society. It is tragic, however, that for a variety of reasons into which I cannot go here, our Parliament seems to be becoming increasingly dysfunctional. Parliament represents the highest tribune of the nation, where the hopes and aspirations of over a billion people are reflected and a whole spectrum of political opinions are expected to be put forward and debated. Debate and discussion is the essence of parliamentary democracy, but unfortunately the level of disruption has reached unprecedented depths. The thrust and parry of parliamentary debate has been replaced by the sound and the fury of parliamentary disruption.Our budget, running into thousands of crores of rupees, is not even debated and has to be passed by a voice vote. The budget debate is the opportunity for members to express their views on the whole gamut of national administration and fiscal policy. I recall that when I first entered Parliament in 1967, the budget debates used to be the highlight of parliamentary activity. Not only the budget, crucial and complex legislation is now often passed without a debate simply because the work of the House is disrupted. Even worse, Question Hour, which is considered sacrosanct in the parliamentary system, has been regularly disrupted in both Houses, thus depriving members of their constitutional right to ask questions and to seek replies from government — in the process wasting crores of rupees of public money.Even more dangerous is the fact that this sort of behaviour in Parliament is steadily eroding the very legitimacy of our democracy and further tarnishing the already low public esteem in which politicians are generally held. With proceedings being telecast live, the whole country is able to see how dysfunctional Parliament has become and to draw its own conclusions. In particular, the impact upon the aspirations and idealism of the younger generation is likely to be traumatic.During the Golden Jubilee Session of Parliament in 1997, a series of meetings were held and a pledge was taken collectively that the smooth functioning of Parliament would be ensured. A resolution adopted by both Houses in a special session of Parliament on the occasion of the golden jubilee of our Independence said, among other things: “That the prestige of Parliament be reserved and enhanced, also by conscious and dignified conformity to the entire regime of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Houses and Directions of the Presiding Officers relating to orderly conduct of business, more especially by• maintaining the inviolability of the Question Hour,• refraining from transgressing into the official areas of the House, or from any shouting of slogans, and• invariably desisting from any efforts at interruptions or interference with the address of the President of the Republic.”The code of conduct for members of the Rajya Sabha adopted by the Ethics Committee in its fourth report presented to the House on March 14, 2005 and agreed to by the House on April 20, 2005 had started with the statement, “Members must not do anything that brings disrepute to the Parliament and affects their credibility”. I leave it to readers to judge how far these pious resolutions are being honoured.The writer is a senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP
