[Assam] Parliament (Lok Sabha) Withering Away

Mon Oct 1 09:26:39 CDT 2007

Lok Sabha ke Sadasya
OR
Rajya Sabha ke Sadasya

Or in generalised terms 

Sansad ke Sadasya

>>>>>Also I have a question - the "Parliament" is
called "Lok Sabha" t>oday.
What are the "Members of Parliament" called in Hindi,
>other than MP?

I am guessing:

Parliament: Sabha
Lower House/House of Commons: Lok Sabha
Upper House/House of Lords: Rajya Sabha

--Ram

On 10/1/07, Dilip/Dil Deka <dilipdeka at yahoo.com>
wrote:
>
> I doubt whether some of the MPs are familiar with
the constitution or are
> even aware that the government consists of three
branches. Do the freshman
> MPs at least get some orientation in the first few
weeks to understand the
> process of government?
> Probably some such training will help remove the
stalemate. It is very
> hard to remove partisanship but it is possible to
remove some of the
> hardness due to partisanship. There are issues where
the nation comes above
> party politics and the debaters need to be aware of
these. The
> parliamentarians of the past that the writer extols
had this calber and the
> debates were meaningful.
> Also I have a question - the "Parliament" is called
"Lok Sabha" today.
> What are the "Members of Parliament" called in
Hindi, other than MP?
> Dilip
>
>
> FROM THE ASSAM TRIBUNE:
> *EDITORIAL*
> ------------------------------
> *Parliament withering away
> — Poonam I Kaushish*
> *W*e have been through all this before. Year after
year. Of how India's
> Parliament is increasing being devalued. Crores of
tax payers hard earned
> money being swept aside by the verbal torrent of
puerile discourse that
> leads to walkouts, even near fisticuffs. Wherein the
very protectors of this
> high temple of democracy have become its denigrators
and destroyers.
>
> Of how in their "collective wisdom" our MPs have
been spewing sheer
> contempt on Parliament, wittingly or unwittingly.
Reducing it into an
> akhara, where politically motivated bashing has
become the order of the day
> and agenda a luxury to be taken up when lung power
is exhausted. Epitomising
> a cesspool of every thing that has gone wrong with
India today! Testimony to
> this sharp decline was this year's shortest ever
monsoon session of barely
> 17 days with the longest daily adjournments and
hardly any work, a mere 64
> hours.
>
> Shockingly, the session, originally scheduled from
10 August till 14
> September, was hurriedly cut short and adjourned
sine die four days earlier.
> No, not because of lack of agenda or legislative
business. But due to the
> proceedings being disrupted in both Houses on a
daily basis thanks to the
> stand-off between the Opposition and the Treasury
benches on the Indo-US
> nuclear deal. The former demanding a JPC on the
contentious subject and the
> latter adamantly declining.
>
> With the result that Parliament further lost
credibility and prestige.
> Leading a much anguished Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath
Chatterjee to State in
> his concluding remarks: "It is extremely disturbing
that the highest public
> forum in the country has come to a standstill which
has raised questions
> about the utility of our system of Parliamentary
democracy and about its
> future." Raising a moot point: Is Parliament
becoming irrelevant?
>
> That we are slowly but surely heading towards
disaster is obvious. What
> troubles one is the new dimension to this age-old
malaise. That it does not
> strike a chord among our MPs. Who largely continue
to drift along smugly
> without thinking of what they have done to
Parliament. Of how they have
> mauled it and continue to do so. Most distressing is
that there is no sense
> of outrage or shame.
>
> The legislative business transacted during the
session illustrates how
> "powerless" parliament has become in stemming the
mounting rot. Let's start
> with the Question Hour, the hyphen which links
Parliament to Government and
> ensures ministerial accountability. Distressingly
out of the 380 starred
> questions listed, only 35 could be answered. Thus,
on an average about
> 2.05 question were answered per day. Why? The MPs
were too busy – rushing
> into the well of the House, raising slogans and
preventing transaction of
> any business.
>
> Mindlessly, ignoring the fact that the hour, treated
as sacrosanct in the
> House of Commons, belong to the private members and
empowers them to push
> the Government and even it's Prime Minister into the
dock. Any member can
> ask any question within the framework of the rules.
This, according to
> constitutional experts, is what makes the
Westminster model of Parliamentary
> democracy superior to all other systems. The crucial
Question Hour
> consequently got "guillotined" time and again,
notwithstanding the midnight
> oil burnt by various ministries preparing for the
answers.
>
> Not only that. Incredibly, four Bills were passed by
the House without any
> discussion whatsoever due to continuous
interruptions. No one cared that the
> bills failed to meet the conventional parliamentary
requirement of three
> readings. The first reading is done when the
Minister moves for the bill's
> consideration and explains its philosophy and its
broad parameters.
> Thereafter, the bill is closely thrashed out clause
by clause in the second
> reading. The third and final reading is done when
all the clauses and
> schedules, if any, have been considered and voted by
the House and the
> Minister moves that the Bill be passed.
>
> Veterans recall Nehru's time when battles royal were
fought during the
> second reading even over the placement of a comma!
Surprised?
> Constitutionally and legally, the placing of a comma
could make all the
> difference to the meaning of a clause. Lamented a
Lok Sabha MP, "I worked
> long and hard preparing for speaking on one of the
scheduled bills. All my
> effort is wasted. If one were to divide 64 hours by
17 sitting, only
> three-and-half days of concrete work have been
transacted."
>
> As matters stand, Parliament has already been
reduced to a farce. It has
> become an annual ritual to guillotine the demands
for grants of various
> ministries totalling thousands of crores of rupees.
What is more, the
> Treasury Benches are now increasingly using its
brute majority to rubber
> stamp various policies trumpeted through ministerial
fiats and ordinances.
> Remember, Parliament's greatest strength and utility
lies in its control
> over the Treasury. This has been systematically
eroded. Bringing things to
> such a pass that a party in power today has no
qualms in pushing ahead with
> populist pronouncements at the drop of a hat. Even
when that goes against
> all parliamentary norms.
>
> Parliament's all-round decline is today easily
Delhi's best known secret.
> Everyone talks about it. Not a few lament over it.
Be it the quality of
> leadership, brand of MPs, parliamentary standards
and debating skills.
> Worse, everyone also knows the raison de atre of
this sorry state of
> affairs: the all-pervasive corrupt-criminal nexus
and the all-enveloping
> caste-creed and vote-bank paradigm. Nothing more,
nothing less. Yet all
> willy nilly abet it.
>
> Ironically, even as Parliament withered, it was a
win-win session for our
> MPs. Who earned hefty salaries, perks and
innumerable freebies including
> free lunches in the historic Central Hall, India's
most exclusive club, for
> shouting and playing truant. Normally, they should
have been held
> accountable for their actions, as during the Nehru
era. But no one seems to
> care anymore beyond shedding crocodile tears and
indulging in boring
> rhetoric, as witnessed once more when the President
presented Best
> Parliamentary awards to Sharad Pawar, Sushma Swaraj,
P Chidambaram and Mani
> Shankar Aiyar.
>
> Parliamentary democracy can succeed only when the
rules of the game are
> followed honestly. Constitutional and other steps
therefore, need to be
> taken soonest to restore to our Parliament its
functional glory as
> originally conceived. Bemoaned a senior CPI leader,
"Parliament is being
> reduced to nothing. MPs are not doing their work but
prefer to take
> allowances... the largest democracy is not
functioning. This must be set
> right!"
>
> The monsoon session has sharply posed a bigger
question mark than ever
> before over the future of India's parliamentary
democracy. The issue is not
> just of our MPs making ones presence felt by
muscle-flexing in the House of
> the People and in the Council of States or even
intolerance of another's
> point of view. It is about upholding the highest
standards of morality,
> credibility and dignity of Parliament. The MPs are
servants of the people,
> not their masters.
>
> If Parliament is to function and regain its lost
lustre among the people,
> the Government and the Opposition have to bury the
hatchet of distrust. The
> Treasury and the Opposition benches are two sides of
the democratic coin and
> must ensure orderly debate, discussion and
functioning. Basically, the
> Opposition must have its say, even as the Government
has its way. Else, it
> will lose its credibility and prestige. Worse,
become redundant and
> irrelevant.
>
> Clearly, it is time to give serious thought to
rectifying the flaws in our
> system and urgent overhauling. If necessary, rules
should be drastically
> changed to put Parliament back on the rails. Indira
Gandhi once wisely said:
> "Parliament is a bulwark of democracy. It has also a
very heavy task of
> keeping an image that will gain it the faith and
respect of the people.
> Because, if that is lost, then I don't know what
could happen later." Time
> to heed her words and stop the drift towards
disaster. INFA
>

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