As the monsoon session ends and MPs go off for a well-earned rest from walkouts and full-throated protests interspersed with some discussion and voting on Bills, the government's floor managers should ask themselves whether parliamentary time has been well spent. They have little reason for self-congratulation. Although some important business was conducted - three states' reorganisation Bills were passed as was the Chemical Weapons Convention Bill 2000 - the session closed with a great deal of important business unfinished. That is not an unusual situation but at a time when life has become more complex and the burden on governments heavier, more efficiency should be sought in the legislative wing. There is a large agenda at the start of every session but time management seems poor and there are always unexpected disruptions and adjournments. During this monsoon session there were also the deaths of members to condole and a number of public holidays to celebrate. With all that and agonising about Kashmirthere was apparently no time left for major economic Bills introduced last year and slated for discussion and voting in this session.Should Parliament carry on like this? It is either slow motion or hit-and-miss. It is rare to have an efficient, focussed start and end to sessions. Sittings could well have been extended to make up for lost time but were not. An unfinished government agenda means scores of business decisions postponed till such time as new laws and regulations are available. The country cannot afford endlessly delayed economic decisions. The urgency applied to the passage of Bills with domestic political or international implications - the 88th Constitution Amendment Bill and the CWC Bill - ought to have been accorded to economic Bills. After the warm tributes paid to the late P R Kumaramangalam, an appropriate salute to his efforts to reform the power sector would have been the completion of legislative business on the Electricity Regulatory Commission. Bills to open coal mines to the private sector and to improve the legal climate for business pending since last year have been put off yet again. It shows that for all thebrave talk about economic reform the government's approach is lackadaisical. It seems in no hurry to get things done. When measures that are possible are not put through it does not encourage confidence about tougher steps being taken. Putting off legislative business is a mistake because it means an overloaded agenda at later sessions and the likelihood of Bills being passed without discussion which is not a healthy practice.The government and Opposition can organise parliamentary business better, setting priorities and ensuring that what is important is treated accordingly. As matters stand, too many random factors are allowed to interfere with serious work and what is supposedly serious is ignored. It does not speak well of the government or Opposition that even though the prime minister announced at the India-EU summit in Lisbon there would be a CTBT debate during the monsoon session of Parliament, no such debate was scheduled.
