Deterioration of parliament

When the winter session of parliament adjourned sine die six days ahead of schedule, it was following a bad tradition that has come to stay. Few sessions in the recent past have held all their scheduled sittings. Most were adjourned early for one reason or the other.

The early adjournment of the winter session was said to be on the request of members of both the ruling and Opposition sides who wanted to go back to their constituencies during the holidays. But it shows their scant regard for parliament, whose functioning has only deteriorated in recent years, and especially during the tenure of the present government.

It has been claimed for the record that the Lok Sabha had 97% productivity and the Rajya Sabha 102% in the 13 sittings of this session. But this statistic is deceptive because many important parameters of the functioning of parliament have shown only progressive deterioration.

What resonated through the entire session was the government’s refusal to discuss the situation on the border with China in Ladakh since May 2020 and especially after the recent clashes between troops on both sides in Arunachal Pradesh.

The entire Opposition had demanded a discussion, and the government’s refusal had no good reason or justification. Parliament, as the country’s highest democratic forum, is expected to discuss such important issues and the government’s unwillingness to do so only showed the indifferent attitude it has consistently adopted towards parliament.

The Lok Sabha passed seven bills and the Rajya Sabha nine, but most of the important bills which were part of the government’s legislative business for the session did not make it to parliament. The ruling party has a big majority in the Lok Sabha and can easily pass any legislation. But the spirit of parliamentary democracy lies in taking the Opposition into confidence and involving them in decision-making. That has been missing as there are fewer debates in parliament and the relationship between the government and the Opposition is marked by confrontation and lack of trust.

Both Houses have seen a decline in the number of debates and discussions over the years. It has been pointed out that while the A B Vajpayee government allowed 59 short-duration discussions on issues of urgent public importance in Lok Sabha between 1999 and 2004, the Narendra Modi government has allowed only six such debates in the present Lok Sabha. The present government has also been less receptive to demands for other discussions and calling attention motions. Prime Minister Modi makes only rare appearances in parliament, unlike past Prime Ministers.

The deterioration of parliament is a reflection of the degradation of democracy, and that is a major cause for concern.