Time to change the House rules(TH Ed)

Time to change the House rules(TH Ed)

Context

Parliament and State legislatures need to meet more regularly

Shorter winter session

• In the last few years, the winter session usually started in the third or fourth week of November and closed just before Christmas
• In 2013, the last winter session of the previous Lok Sabha started in the first week of December, was adjourned after 10 sittings, and continued in early February
• Given the notice period of two weeks to summon a session, it is unlikely that there will be a commencement of the session before the second week of December resulting in a yet another short parliament session

Shorter assembly sessions in states

• Data for 20 Assemblies over the last five years indicate that they meet for 29 days a year on average
• States such as Haryana (12 days a year) and Uttarakhand (13 days) rarely meet
• There have also been some extreme cases in terms of session time
• Shortest session record: On September 25, 2015, the Puducherry Assembly commenced a session at 9.30 a.m. and closed at 9.38 a.m., which included a two-minute silence for obituary references, just short of the record of the shortest session by the same Assembly in October 1986, five minutes
• 10 minute session: Even a large State such as Uttar Pradesh has held a 10-minute session, in November 2011, in which the resolution to divide the State into four parts was passed

 Ambedkar’s views

• Author states Dr. BR Ambedkar’s view on opting for parliamentary form of government wherein he believed that parliamentary form of government provides higher level of responsibility on the government through daily assessment by members in the form of questions, resolutions, no-confidence motions, adjournment motions and debates on addresses
• He felt that daily assessment was more effective in holding governments to account, and more appropriate for India

Fallacy

The inherent flaw in the above reasoning is that it presupposes frequent & regular parliamentary sessions while the reality is far different.

Infrequent sessions

Author states that despite improved mode of transportation Parliament has met for just 65-75 days per year in the last couple of decades comparing to 125-140 days a year in the early days of the republic

Consequences

A direct consequence has been less scrutiny of the government’s actions, and even that of bills and budgets

PM & CMs responsibility

• The Constitution specifies that Parliament will be summoned by the President; the President shall act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers; and there cannot be more than six months between two sittings of Parliament. Similar provisions exist for State legislatures
• Thus, it is effectively the Prime Minister (or the Chief Minister) who determines when Parliament (or an Assembly) will meet, subject to the gap being less than six months.

Structural issue

Issue involved here is the government’s power to summon sessions and its ability to adjust the dates in response to emerging circumstances

Solution to the problem

• Announce a calendar of sittings: A simple solution is to have a calendar of sittings announced at the beginning of each year. This would help members and others plan better for the whole year. Just imagine the trouble members currently face in scheduling other engagements in the absence of any certainty of the parliamentary schedule
• Provision for additional sessions: One also needs to build in the possibility of additional sittings that the government can require if it needs urgent parliamentary approval for action under unforeseen situations.
• British variation: A variant, such as that followed by the British Parliament, is to have year-long sessions. Thus, the five-year term of Parliament consists of five sessions of a year each. This would require some minor changes in rules such as permitting no-confidence motions to be taken up multiple times in a session if a significant minority asks for it.
• Allow minority members to call a session:A different approach would be to allow a significant minority of members to call for a session

Pakistan’s example

• Pakistan’s Constitution requires a session of Parliament within 14 days if one-fourth of its membership demands one
• It also states that Parliament should meet at least 130 days every year and there should be at least three sessions.

Conclusion

Authenticity of a democracy is ensured by frequent scrutiny by elected representatives. Hence, it is time to change the rules to strengthen the system and ensure that key institutions such as Parliament and State legislatures are able to perform their roles more effectively.