In Parliament, ensure debate

Flexibility from government and Opposition will help foster a productive winter session

Parliament’s winter session begins on Wednesday, bang in the middle of election season. The first two days of the 17-day session will be dominated by results from the Delhi Municipal Corporation polls on December 7 and assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on December 8. And, while there is little doubt that the electoral performance of parties will have an impact on proceedings, especially in the confidence levels of the government and the Opposition, far more important issues will be in the offing. This newspaper reported this week that the government plans to introduce 16 new pieces of legislation in the House, including important amendments to laws on tribespeople, forest rights and cooperative societies.

Analysis of Parliament data shows that this is part of a disturbing trend where over the past 15 years, the number of bills being passed in Parliament with little or no debate has grown.

It is, therefore, important to ensure that the acrimony and competitiveness of the poll battle are left on the electoral field, and lawmakers enter Parliament ready for discussion and debate. Previous sessions have been mired in bitterness between the government and Opposition benches and important bills have been passed with little deliberation — a regrettable turn of events. Analysis of Parliament data shows that this is part of a disturbing trend where over the past 15 years, the number of bills being passed in Parliament with little or no debate has grown, coinciding with a slide in the number of laws being referred to parliamentary committees or panels.

This means that the two main functions of Parliament — scrutiny and debate — are increasingly being held hostage by political jousting. Democracies cannot sustain without a robust legislature and the country is poorer without a vigorous system of parliamentary checks on laws that shape individual freedoms and rights, and influence the everyday lives of millions of citizens. It is, therefore, contingent on the government to make space for discussion and dissenting voices from parties notwithstanding their numerical heft, or the lack of it; and for Opposition parties to abandon intractable positions and disruptive protest tactics. More flexibility and a consultative approach will serve Parliament well and create the conditions for a more productive winter session.