They,the people

But are the MPs alone responsible for the loss of working hours in Parliament? Many parliamentarians believe that the Chair needs to be less rigid and schoolmasterish and adopt a more conciliatory approach. Some believe that a speaker should resign from his political party before assuming office,so that the charge of partisanship cannot be levelled against him. This is the practice in the House of Commons and was followed by earlier speakers such as Sanjiva Reddy and G.S. Dhillon.

There are other avenues to be explored than continuously adjourning the House. Consultations behind the scenes with political parties can often sort out issues and avoid the constant confrontations on the floor of the House. MPs resort to disruptive tactics because discussions are disallowed on issues they are keen to raise. Last year,a debate on the Sachar Committee report was listed thrice but eventually did not come up for discussion. Last Thursday,the Chair denied permission to BJP MPs to speak on the Jharkhand vote-on-account.

Parliament’s lost hours are due not only to heckling by MPs. The malaise is deeper. The 14th Lok Sabha set a new low by registering fewer sittings than ever before. Last year,the Rajya Sabha met for only 46 sittings,less than half the average in the early years of our republic. The ruling party,at times with the cooperation of the main opposition parties,has been arbitrarily cutting back on the number of days Parliament meets. CPM MP Mohammed Salim points to a telling detail: “Last year,there was no monsoon or winter session,a single session stretched from last year’s budget to this year.”

Lok Sabha schedules are sometimes decided by such extraneous considerations as giving MPs time off for election campaigns and ministers to attend international conferences. Sometimes the government simply wants to avoid discussions on uncomfortable issues. Last year,the only two subjects debated thoroughly were the Indo-US nuclear deal and terrorism — in fact,discussions on both subjects showed that parliamentary debate can be conducted at an elevated level when the MPs so desire. However,important topics such as malnutrition,drought,rural poverty,governmental corruption,the declining groundwater tables,reservation for women in Parliament and the economic meltdown fell by the wayside. Hundreds of queries raised by MPs during Question Hour could not be taken up for discussion. Private members’ bills and short-notice discussions were similarly crowded out.

With the number of hours Parliament meets declining sharply,parliamentary affairs ministers are sometimes simply concerned with pushing through the outstanding paperwork without bothering about due deliberation. This was apparent on the last day of the Lok Sabha session in December when eight important bills were hustled through in 17 minutes with no discussion whatsoever. Nothing could be heard while the bills were being presented,since the minister’s words were drowned in the din created by BJP and Shiv Sena MPs demanding the sacking of Minorities Affairs Minister A.R. Antulay for his controversial remarks on the death of ATS chief Hemant Karkare. Equally unfortunate was the “guillotining” of discussions for grants for several ministries. Even the home ministry’s grants under 10 different heads were discussed for a mere six and a half hours,with only 33 MPs participating. The rationale advanced for the lack of introspection on important issues which come before the House is that they have already been put before parliamentary standing committees. This is dubious. The committees cannot usurp Parliament’s role and what happens behind closed doors in committees is no substitute for an open debate in the House relayed to the entire nation.

Concerned about the increasing absence of debate on serious

issues,Rajya Sabha Chairperson Hamid Ansari pointed out that

future generations would have difficulty in ascertaining the legislative intent of a particular act. He contrasted today’s rapid-fire passage of bills with the thoughtful debates of the Constituent Assembly,when each issue was discussed threadbare. Salim adds,“In Parliament,there is an unfortunate trend that if you manage the votes in advance,then there is no real discussion in the House.” When amending the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act last December,POTA-like provisions were introduced,but there was minimal deliberation on these details in the Lok Sabha since the Congress had reached an understanding with the BJP in advance.

The 14th Lok Sabha set some other dubious records. MPs were expelled from the House,for asking questions in Parliament for cash and one for human trafficking. Many MPs were disqualified for defying their party whips in the trust vote on the Indo-US nuclear deal. Twenty-three per cent of all the MPs had criminal cases registered against them. Two MPs were in jail for much of their tenure. Hopefully,the 15th Lok Sabha,which will probably convene by early June,will see a change for the better.

coomi.kapoor@expressindia.com