Performance of Parliament during the 17th Lok Sabha

Context: As the term of 17^th Lok Sabha is coming to an end, there has been a growing concern over the declining productivity of Lok Sabha in recent times. 

Parliament of India:

• Parliament as the legislative organ of the Union Government, occupies a pre-eminent and central position in Indian democracy.
• The Parliament of India consists of three parts- The President, the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of People (Lok Sabha).
• Article 79 to 122 of Indian Constitution deals with the Parliament, its composition, powers, and other related aspects.

Functions of parliament:

• Representative Democracy: Enables representation of various section of society, voice their concerns and participate in decision making. 
• Responsible Government: 
  • Ensures collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers to the Lok Sabha and by extension to the people of India. 
  • Enables citizens to keep elected executives in control. 
  • Offers various tools for parliamentarians to extract accountability from government. For ex. Zero Hour, Question Hour, Motions and Resolutions etc. 
• Consociational democracy: Allows differing and fragmented sections of political opinion to come together into stable coalitions over issues. 
• Deliberative democracy: Highest forum for deliberation over national issues. 
• Law Making functions:
  • Only institution which can carry out Amendments to the Constitution. 
  • Exclusive power to enact laws under the Union List & Concurrent List of 7^th Schedule of the Constitution. 
  • Parliament is also empowered to enact laws under State List under special circumstances.
  • Parliamentary Committees allow members scrutinize functioning of government, its finances and scrutinize legislations effectively.
• Financial Powers: Union Budget is placed before the Parliament for its approval.
• Judicial Powers: Impeachment of President and removal of judges of SC and HC.
• Electoral Powers: Election of the President and Vice-President.

Challenges in the functioning of Parliament: (DEBATE, DIALOGUE, DISSENT)

• Average number of sittings has come down from 103 (1952) to 56 (2022) – lowest number of sittings in 17^th Lok Sabha. 
• Time lost has gone up from 5% (1985) to around 30% now. 
• Lack of debates -103rdCAA(EWS)passed without any debate; Criminal reform bills was passed when more than 70% of opposition MPs were suspended. 
• Drastic reduction on time spent on budget discussion- time spent on discussing union budget, demand for grants and finance bill has declined from 120 hours annually before 1990 to 35 hours post-1990.
• No private member bill has been passed since 1970 (Total only 14).
• Weak committee system- In 17^th Lok Sabha, only 16% of the bills were sent to parliamentary committee for scrutiny. 
• Lack of women representation- 14.4% (South Asia including Pakistan >12%, Global around 14%).
• Disruption (Obstructionism) added on to the three D's- the annual average of bills passed declined from 65 in 1952-90 period to 48 in 1991-2023.
• Corruption and criminalization- 43% Lok Sabha MPs have criminal records. 

UNDERLAYING CAUSES OF ABOVE CHALLENGES 

• Lack of inner party democracy and the stringest Anti-Defection law ensures that MPs have to appease party ‘High Command’.
• Increasing misuse of money power in politics.
• Mainstreaming of ‘othering’ and ‘majoritarian’ politics 
• Lack of recorded voting reduces accountability 
• Speaker-party affiliation manifests in partisan behaviour. 
• Lack of calendar gives full discretion to the government. 
• Lack of reforms in rules of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
• Decline of consensual nature and idealism in politics as displayed after the freedom struggle.

REFORMS :

• 15 point formula for parliamentary reforms by former vice-president of India:
  • new political consciousness amongst legislators to review their roles and responsibilities.
  • Political parties must ensure attendance of at least 50% of their legislators throughout the proceedings of the Houses by adopting a roster system.
  • Review whip system hich hinders the freedom of expression of the legislators.
  • Review of the Anti-Defection to rectify the areas like incentivizing legislators to resort to actions that invite expulsion from the party besides providing for time-bound disposal of defection cases by the Presiding Officer.
  • Measures for effective functioning of Department Related Standing Committees like longer tenure (instead of the present one year), promoting specialization, etc.
  • Legislative Impact Assessment: A detailed framework for pre and post Legislative Impact Assessment was needed. 
  • Need for moving away from identity-based voting to that of development-oriented exercise of voting preferences.
  • Need for responsive governments positively acting on the concerns of the opposition and the need for responsible and constructive opposition while resorting to available parliamentary instruments.
  • Building consensus on the proposal o allow unrestricted governance.
  • Enacting for reservation of women in legislatures. It has been done through 106^th constitutional amendment.
  • Need for timely and effective action against legislators for non-ethical conduct.
  • Regular publication of reports by the Secretariats of Legislatures on the attendance of Members and their participation in debates.
  • Addressing the concern of a rising number of legislators with criminal records.
  • Setting up of special courts for time-bound adjudication of criminal complaints against legislators.
  • A minimum number of sittings for both the Houses of Parliament and State Legislatures per year need to be appropriately prescribed.

• Ethical
  • Code of Conduct for MP's (Nolan Committee) 
  • Strengthening of Ethics committee
  • Penalty for unruly behaviour. 
• Logistical
  • Proper training
  • Minimum number of days 
  • Rajya Sabha - 100 days 
  • Lok Sabha - 120 Days
  • Linking salaries to the performance 
  • Political Parties:
  • Pre-poll coalition (2nd ARC) Midterm realignment must seek fresh mandate 
  • Constructive vote of No confidence