JOIN USWhen the presiding officers of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha disclosed how much parliamentary time was lost to disruptions during the just-concluded winter session, they were not just making a statistical measure of the functioning of the two Houses.
The Lok Sabha lost over 51 hours and the Rajya Sabha 53 hours – about 45 per cent of their time — while there was the need for smooth legislative work after two forgettable sessions. The winter session had been completely lost to the logjam over a 2G probe and the budget session was a truncated one. Parliament refused to rise above the narrow interest of parties and its entrenched negative culture even when its credibility was being questioned in the streets.
Every session has one or more controversial issues that drown it in noise and chaos. The good and bad of the issue and the merits and demerits of positions on them are not the concerns of any side. The issue is only used to disrupt the House but is hardly debated.
The Gujarat governor’s controversial appointment of a Lokayukta, the continuing CWG corruption story, Amar Singh’a arrest and other issues threw all schedules into disarray.
More time was lost in talking about them and in fighting over whether they should be discussed than what may have been needed to discuss them. Each side thinks that putting other sides down and showing them in a poor light is what it should do in parliament. Only on two occasions did parliament rise to realise its role – when the Rajya Sabha debated Soumitra Sen’s impeachment and when the two Houses discussed the Lokpal bill. But a few hours of good work do not redeem the many hours of waste of national time.
Records speak poorly of parliament’s performance. Thirty-seven bills were listed for passing, but only 22 were passed. Some of them, even important ones, were cleared without much discussion. Only 14 out of 34 bills listed for introduction were actually introduced.
Some important pieces of legislation which needed to be passed will now have to await another session. When parliament fails in its prime legislative duty, it fails the nation. Out of 500 listed questions only 51 were raised and answered in the Lok Sabha and 65 in the Rajya Sabha. The use of the question hour is an indication of the health of parliament. Its failure, more than anything else, is a matter of serious concern.