Hurrying through a legislation: on reservation quota

Hurrying through a legislation: on reservation quota

News:

Laps in India’s parliamentary procedures reflected in the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019, that enables 10% reservation in education and employment for economically weaker sections.

Important Facts:

Laps in India’s parliamentary procedures

• The rules of procedure not followed – Lok Sabha require every Bill to be circulated at least two days ahead of introduction. This is to give time for MPs to read the Bill and discuss it (or make objections) when the vote on the motion to introduce the Bill is taken up.
  • However, in the case of 124th Amendment, the bill was not circulated
• Denial of unstarred question – When unstarred questions was tabled which is whether the government “exploring the scope of providing reservation for poor candidates from forward communities for education and employment” was denied by Minister.
  • Unstarred questions do not allow for follow-up questions. This is why they are more conducive for getting answers on queries related to data/information.
• By passed security mechanism – The usual practice is to refer Bills to the respective standing committee of Parliament. This step allows MPs to solicit public feedback and interact with experts before forming their recommendations. In the case of this Constitution Amendment this scrutiny mechanism was bypassed.
• No time for discussion – There was hardly any time between its introduction and final discussion.
• No Scrutiny by Parliamentary Committee – Barring a few small parties, none of the larger Opposition parties asked for the Bill to be carefully considered by a parliamentary committee not even in Rajya Sabha.

Structural Loophole in India which obstruct an effective parliamentary procedure to take place

• The anti-defection law – That restrains MPs from voting according to their conscience.
• Lack of recorded voting as a norm which reduces the accountability of the MP as voters don’t know which way they voted on each issue.
• Party affiliation of the Speaker – Making her dependent on the party leadership for re-election prospects.
• Frequent bypassing of committees – Just 25% of Bills have been referred to committees in this Lok Sabha.
• Insufficient time and research support to examine Bills.
• The lack of a calendar – Parliament is held at the convenience of the government.

Practice in Britain in contrast to India

• For instance, recently, a member of the ruling Conservative Party wanted to move an amendment bill to set a deadline for the Prime Minister to put forward new plans if she loses the Brexit vote next week and when the government objected that such amendments can be moved only by a Minister, the Speaker differed on this and said that every member had a right to move an amendment.
• This case reflects three ways how Britain have better Bill passage mechanism
  • First, the absence of an anti-defection law, which allow each MP can vote her conscience.
  • Second, In Britain it is known exactly how each MP voted because they are recorded. In India, most votes (other than Constitution Amendments that need a two-thirds majority to pass) are through voice votes, just 7% of other Bills had a recorded vote over the last 10 years.
  • Third, in above case the Speaker insisted on the supremacy of Parliament in Britain, and allow a motion against the wishes of the government.

Way Forward:

• Parliament has a central role to secure the interest of citizens. It is the primary body of accountability that translates the wishes and aspirations of citizens into appropriate laws and policies.
• The need of the hour is for greater and effective utilization of Parliamentary Committees to strengthen Parliament as a deliberative body which can ensure effective oversight.
• Each day a specific time-frame shall be maintained for discussion of any new or urgent issues in concurrence with the Speaker. The Opposition could also be allotted a couple of hours at the starting or at the end of the day to put their views forward.
• Need to address each of the issues discussed above to strengthen Parliament and protect our democracy.