Known as the ‘Temple of Democracy,’ parliament is a place where laws are enacted and problems relating to the nation and its citizens are discussed. Thus, the parliament is duty-bound to maintain an exemplarily high standard during its proceedings. The atmosphere of the parliament should be such that it brings the best out of every law maker. While the opposition bench is entitled to corner the government by raising issues related to public importance and highlighting the failures in governance, on its part the treasury bench should ensure all efforts to blunt the attack by tabling all necessary statistics and data in relation to the queries made by members of the house. In the past, all parliamentarians had to thoroughly prepare themselves under the guidance of senior party leaders. Whenever any junior member received a chance to speak, he or she had to go to their seniors for necessary speech corrections. Additionally, they were never allowed to exceed the allotted time to allow the house time to take up the maximum number of issues.
However, it seems that the Indian parliament has lost its sheen as adjournments, disruptions and sloganeering inside the house, etc. have become the order of the day inplace of healthy debates. As a result, important bills, even the budget allocation for separate ministries are being passed without any discussion. This is much against the ethos of parliamentary democracy as a parliament sans discussion makes no contribution towards the nation. Thus, it is time for the members to focus on how to become good parliaments to fulfil the aspirations of the lakhs of voters who have elected them as their representatives in the most important institution of democracy.
There is no point in starting a blame game about which side is to be blamed for such pathetic conditions. It is the duty of the government to run the house diligently and efficiently, however it is understood that smooth functioning of the parliament depends on the behaviour of both sides. This is why a business advisory committee is formed in every parliament consisting leaders of all important parties to prepare the agenda of the house. Once the agenda is prepared, it becomes the duty of every political party not to disrupt the house proceedings as it is run by consensus and not arbitrarily. Clearly, it’s not good parliamentary practice to change position after giving consent.
One can only hope that our parliamentarians will soon realise the futility of stalling the house on the slightest pretext as debates and discussions in the parliament determine the future of the nation. Vibrant parliament is the symbol of a healthy democracy. This is the best place to register protests as parliamentary procedures have provided scope for it, members are free to raise any issues which they believe are not serving the interest of the nation. So both the treasury and opposition benches should rethink their strategies and allow the parliament to function for the benefit of the people and our nation.
