Parliament is the institutional core of India’s democratic architecture—envisioned by the Constitution as the forum of national deliberation and the supreme body of executive accountability. Yet, contemporary trends suggest a drift towards an executive-centric governance model, eroding Parliament’s capacity to debate, scrutinize and hold the government to account.
Declining Deliberative Function:
· Fall in Sitting Days: The 1st Lok Sabha met for 135 days annually while the 17th Lok Sabha averaged 55 days, shrinking opportunities for debate and legislative scrutiny.
· Minimal Debate on Legislation: According to PRS (2023), 42% of Bills in the 17th Lok Sabha were passed with less than 30 minutes of discussion. For e.g., Farm Laws were passed in the Rajya Sabha in mere minutes without division, undermining deliberative law-making.
- Rising Disruptions: Frequent adjournments resulted in 55–60% time lost in some sessions. This crowds out constructive debate and reduces Parliament to symbolic functioning.
- Marginalisation of Private Members’ Business: Only one Private Member’s Bill was discussed in the entire 17th Lok Sabha, shrinking the space for wider political participation.
Weakening of Oversight Functions:
- Reduced Scrutiny of Budget: In 2023, 75% of Demands for Grants were guillotined without discussion. Only 11% of expenditure underwent detailed scrutiny.
- Decline of Parliamentary Committees: Committee scrutiny has fallen from 60–70% of Bills in the 1990s to 25% today. Critical legislations such as UAPA Amendment (2019) and J&K Reorganisation Act (2019) bypassed committees entirely.
- Executive Overreach: Frequent use of ordinances (76 between 2014–23) and expansive use of Money Bill classification (questioned in Rojer Mathew v. RBI, 2019) weakens parliamentary control.
- Anti-defection Law Stifles Dissent: The 10th Schedule converts MPs into whip-bound voters, curbing independent judgement even on budgets or impeachment core oversight functions.
- Partisan Role of Presiding Officers: Delayed decisions in disqualification cases as seen in cases like Keisham Meghachandra weaken impartiality and accountability mechanisms.
Implications of the decline:
- Democratic backsliding and weakening of checks and balances.
- Hasty, poor-quality legislation. For e.g., Farm Laws repeal.
- Judicial interventions filling legislative vacuum as seen in Vishaka guidelines.
- Erosion of public trust as only 27% fully trust Parliament as per the Lokniti-CSDS survey.
Way Forward:
- Reform anti-defection law—limit whip to confidence and money bills.
- Mandate referral of all crucial Bills to Parliamentary Committees.
- Increase minimum sitting days to 100 days/year as suggested by NCRWC.
- Establish a Parliamentary Budget Office for independent fiscal scrutiny.
- Strengthen neutrality of the Speaker through transparent selection norms.
Conclusion:
Revitalising its deliberative and oversight capacities is essential to safeguard constitutionalism and ensure that governance remains anchored in public consent, transparency and collective wisdom.
‘+1’ Value Addition
- 17th Lok Sabha passed 35% of Bills on the same day of introduction.
- Aadhaar Act controversially certified as a Money Bill, limiting Rajya Sabha scrutiny.
- In the Rojer Mathew v. South Indian Bank, SC questioned misuse of Money Bill provision.
- UK Parliament sits 150–170 days, with weekly PM Questions ensuring direct accountability unlike India.
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