oppn parties Low Legislative Sittings Diminish The Quality Of Democracy

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  • PM Modi says that if Congress is voted to power in Haryana, the state will face the same financial problems that Himachal is facing under the party's rule
  • Competition Commission of India has said that smartphone majors are colluding with e-commerce firms to exclusively launch products on their platforms in alleged breach of anti-trust laws
  • Supreme Court rules that delay in claiming compensation for land acquisition by the government is no excuse to deny it as it is the duty of the government to pay the compensation.
  • PM Modi said that terrorism was breathing its last in J&K
  • Conbgress has alleged that Sebi chief Madhabi Buch traded in listed securities and invested in China-focused funds during her tnure at the agency
  • India to sing $4bn Predator drone deal with US
  • Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has disclosed that the opposition parties backed him as Prime Minister in place of Narendra Modi but he refused.
  • Noted economist Ajit Ranade removed as VC of Gokhale Institute of Politics & Economics in Pune due to not fulfilling eligibility criteria related to teaching experience
  • Chess Olympiad: Arjun Erigaisi wins his fourth consecutive game
  • Asian Champions Trophy hockey- India beat Pakistan 2-1 in a tough match to remain unbeaten in the group stage. They will meet Korea in the semifinals
  • Davis Cup: S Balaji and R Ramanathan lose, India 0-2 down on first day
  • Delhi Police arrested Sangram Dass, said to be the kingpin of an inter-state new-born baby tafficking racket, from Kolkata after a 1500-km chase
  • NC leader Omar Abdullah alleged that the B|JP was forging secret deals with some regional parties and independents to form the government in J&K
  • Rajasthan Police has devised a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), as directed by the Rajasthan HC, to help married and live-in couples facing threats from families and others. It icludes helplines and safe houses
  • A 3-storey building collapsed in the busy Transport Nager area in Lucknow killing 8 and injuring 28 others
Junior doctors do not agree to meet Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee without live-streaming of meeting /////// CBI arrests ex-principal of R G Kar College Sandip Ghosh and OC of Tala PS in Kolkata, Abhijit Mondal' for destrcution of evidence in the rape-murder case
oppn parties
Low Legislative Sittings Diminish The Quality Of Democracy

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-02-18 08:51:58

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

In a legislative democracy, elections are held to elect people's representatives, called legislators, who can highlight the problems of their constituency and the nation in the state or national assembly, help in drafting and passage of laws, check and vote on the accounts and records the government places in the house, demand answers from the government (if in opposition) and do all other legislative work expected of them. For this, state assemblies and the Lok Sabha needs to sit for a minimum number of days every year so that the work is done diligently and with care.

But The Times of India has done data crunching to report that state assemblies in India had, on an average, just 30 sittings per year over the last decade. The Lok Sabha had 63 sittings per year in the same period. These are shocking figures and point to the fact that legislative business is not given the importance it deserves. Apart from the fact that this devalues legislative democracy, it also leads to a situation where MLAs and MPs get elected just to enjoy the perks and are not seriously involved in making laws or conducting other legislative work. Electioneering at many levels, politicking and party work takes up most of their time.

This cannot be accepted. The state assemblies and the Parliament are not exclusive clubs of privileged politicians. Elected representatives have a huge responsibility. If they assemble sit for so few days, how can they fulfill this responsibility? It is not enough to show that so much legislative work was completed in so and so session as the quality of that work is questionable since it is rushed through the house due to time constraints. There is no vetting by parliamentary committees and no informed debate. Then, since the houses do not assemble, there is an increasing tendency to adopt the ordinance route. All parties must come together to set a benchmark and all state assemblies and the Lok Sabha must sit for at least 115 days in a year, worked out on the basis of half of 365 days less 104 days for weekends and 30 days for national and state holidays. Once that is decided, the presence of all MLAs and MPs must also be ensured, maybe through disincentives for not attending, if needed.