Vice President sounds cautionary note: legislature losing credibility

The instrumentalities at the disposal of the legislatures, he said, had either been blunted or become dysfunctional.

He said Parliament must increase its sittings to 130 days a year 8220;to restore its deliberative role,8221; bring back the sanctity attached to Question Hour, make up for time lost due to disruptions by sitting beyond normal hours the same day.

The chair, he said, should take up with whips, on a daily basis, incidents of violation of behavioral norms by members and invoke the rule about naming members whenever necessary.

He cited data to underline the decline in the number of sittings. He said Rajya Sabha, which had an annual average of 90.5 in 1952-61, came down to 71.3 in the decade 1992-2001 8212; a decline of 20 per cent. The comparative figures for the Lok Sabha are 124.2 and 81.0 8212; a decline of 34 per cent. State assemblies are worse off, with the average now being in the range of 20 to 50 sittings every year.

Calling for an increase in the number of sittings, he said comparatives figures for the British and Canadian parliaments are in excess of 140. The US Congress is in session, on an average, for over 150 days in a year.

The annual average of the number of Bills passed by Parliament has come down from 68 in 1952-61 to 49.9 in the decade 1992-2001.

Nearly 23 per cent of MPs elected in 2004 had criminal cases registered against them and over half of these are cases that could lead to imprisonment for five years or more. The situation is worse in the case of MLAs.

Ansari said all sides of the House bear responsibility for the decline in legislative functions of the legislature.

8220;The treasury benches,8221; he said, 8220;shy away from substantive discussion on issues of public concern, the opposition prefers to resort to the so-called Zero Hour only to mention these issues in hyperbolic terms.8221;

8220;Deliberation is thus reduced to a zero sum game. Policies are offered to the public as products, the electorate is denied a peep in to process.8221; This, he said, has serious implications for democracy.

The practice of resisting debate or mention of contentious issues, he said, should be eschewed and both the government and opposition should specifically commit themselves to deliberate on issues for which a request is made by at least one-third or one-fourth of members.

Ansari raised these questions: Is not the disruption of Question Hour a breach of privilege of individual members who await answers to admitted starred questions and supplementary questions? Are members of legislatures immune to public opinion? Do members indulging in disruption understand the implications of being paid, full-time, public servants in the technical meaning of the term? Why can our legislators not function as legislators do in other democratic systems?

He pointed out that a legislator 8220;consciously accepts the obligations of his office and cannot accord secondary place to his duties in the legislature.8221;

He reminded the whips of three commitments made in the resolution, An Agenda for India, which was adopted at the joint session of Parliament in 1997 to mark the golden jubilee of Independence. The commitments were: maintaining the inviolability of Question Hour, refraining from transgressing into the official area of the House or from shouting slogans and desisting, invariably, from interruption or interference with the Address of the President.

He said ten years down the line, records show that each commitment has been observed in breach. 8220;It is a damning indictment before the bar of public opinion and is viewed as such by civil society and the media,8221; he said.

What Hamid Ansari wants House to ensure:

8226; Deliberative role of Parliament must be restored by increasing the number of sittings per annum to 130 days

8226; Time lost due to disruptions should be compensated the same day by sitting beyond normal hours

8226; The chair should take up with whips, on daily basis, incidents of violation of behavioral norms and invoke the rule about naming members whenever necessary

8226; The Government and Opposition should commit themselves to deliberate issues for which a request is made by one-third or one-fourth of the members