{"id":1179,"date":"2020-02-14T10:23:58","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T04:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/?p=1179"},"modified":"2020-03-18T18:06:17","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T12:36:17","slug":"parliamentary-reforms-in-india-must-read-for-upsc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/parliamentary-reforms-in-india-must-read-for-upsc\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliamentary Reforms in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Representative democracy and parliamentary institutions have endured in India for more than seven decades. It is a great tribute to India&#8217;s democratic framework. Parliamentary Reforms in India<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in recent years there is a debate regarding the declining standards of the Indian Parliament. It is also highlighted in the recent&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.drishtiias.com\/daily-updates\/daily-news-analysis\/point-reforms-charter-for-parliament\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>15 point reform charter<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;given by the Vice President of India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Parliamentary System of Government in India<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Parliamentary system of government:<\/strong>&nbsp;Executive is responsible to the legislature for its policies and acts.<\/li><li>The Constitution of India provides for a parliamentary form of government, both at the Centre and in the States.<br><ul><li>Articles 74 and 75 deal with the parliamentary system of government at the Union level and Articles 163 and 164 contain provisions with regard to the States.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>The parliamentary system in India is borrowed from the Government of India Act 1935.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Challenges Faced by the Parliament<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Criminalisation of Politics<\/strong><br><ul><li>According to a report by the&nbsp;<strong>Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)<\/strong>, the proportion of legislators with criminal cases against them has continuously increased.It stood at 15% in the year 2009 moving to 19% in 2019.<\/li><li>This has impacted the standards of democratic discussions, debate and dissent.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Dominance of Archaic Laws<\/strong><br><ul><li>India is a young nation but it is still ruled by old laws.<\/li><li>For example, the police is governed by such colonial-era statutes as the&nbsp;<strong>Police Act of 1861<\/strong>, which predates independence by nearly a century.<\/li><li>The archaic laws are inadequate in addressing contemporary challenges.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Anti-Defection Law<\/strong><br><ul><li>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.drishtiias.com\/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions\/the-big-picture-anti-defection-law-karnataka-political-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Anti-defection law<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;(Tenth Schedule of the Constitution) states that the Speaker\/Chairman of the legislature is the final authority to decide on the disqualification of a legislator.<\/li><li>However, the role of the presiding officers has become increasingly politicized. Thereby creating doubts over Speaker&#8217;s role vis-\u00e0-vis anti-defection law&nbsp;<strong>being biased<\/strong>, as recently seen in the Karnataka political crisis.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Decline of Representative Democracy<\/strong><br><ul><li>As per Anti-defection law, the legislators have to vote as per party whip. Due to this, legislators are compelled to vote on party lines irrespective of their local or regional interest.<br><ul><li>This has narrowed scope of democracy dissent and divergent views.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>India has&nbsp;<strong>first past the post electoral system<\/strong>, which means that candidates winning the highest number of votes gets elected.<br><ul><li>This leads to neglect of representation of voters who voted for another candidate.<\/li><li>Also, this system of voting is not suitable for the representation of minorities, raising questions on representation.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Only 14.3% (78) of the total members in the current parliament are women.<\/li><li>All these factors taken together defeat the intended purpose of representative democracy.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Lowering Standards of Parliamentary Scrutiny<\/strong><br><ul><li>In order to ensure that Parliament discharges its law-making responsibilities effectively, the concept of Department-related Standing Committees was introduced in March 1993.<br><ul><li>These committees are meant to&nbsp;<strong>scrutinize legislation<\/strong>&nbsp;pertaining to specific ministries.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>However, the majority of the bills were passed by the Parliament through a voice vote, without much debating and without referring them to the parliamentary committees.<br><ul><li>For example, RTI Amendment Act (2019), UAPA Amendment Act (2019) &#8211; which have huge implications on civil liberties,&nbsp;<strong>were passed without referring them to the Parliamentary committee<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Frequent Elections<\/strong><br><ul><li>India is a Union of 28 states, thereby putting India in a continuous cycle of Lok Sabha and State Legislative Elections.<\/li><li>The frequent elections lead to&nbsp;<strong>massive expenditure and policy paralysis<\/strong>&nbsp;(due to imposition of the Model Code of Conduct during election time).<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Parliamentary Privileges Curbing Freedom of Speech<\/strong><br><ul><li>Parliamentary privileges under&nbsp;<strong>Article 105<\/strong>, are sometimes used to curb freedom of the press through&nbsp;<strong>Strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP)<\/strong>.<\/li><li>A SLAPP is a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate, and silence press in the name of parliamentary privileges.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Weakened Opposition in India<\/strong><br><ul><li>Democracy works on the principle of checks and balances. It is these checks and balances that&nbsp;<strong>prevent democracy from turning into majoritarianism<\/strong>.<\/li><li>In Parliamentary system, these checks and balances are provided by the opposition party.<\/li><li>However, the majority of a single party in the Lok Sabha has diminished the role of an effective opposition in the Parliament.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Steps Taken so far<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Electoral Bonds<\/strong><br><ul><li>In order to cleanse the system of political funding in the country Electoral Bonds Scheme was launched in 2017.<\/li><li>This is an effective step to minimise the role of black money in the election and thereby keeping a check on criminalisation of politics.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Regulating Anonymous Donations<\/strong><br><ul><li>In Union Budget 2017-18, the government declared that the maximum amount of cash donation, a political party can receive is Rs2000 from one person.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>NOTA (None of the Above)<\/strong>&nbsp;option in electronic voting machine was mandated by the Supreme Court of India in 2013. It enables the voter to officially register a vote of rejection for all candidates who are contesting.<\/li><li><strong>Removal of Archaic Laws<\/strong><br><ul><li>In accordance with&nbsp;<strong>Ramanujam committee (2014)<\/strong>&nbsp;recommendation, the government plans to repeal more than 1500 archaic laws.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Bill to provide reservation for women in the Parliament was introduced in 2008. However, till now it has not been passed.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Way Forward<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Legislative Impact Assessment<\/strong><br><ul><li>A detailed framework for pre and post Legislative Impact Assessment was needed.<\/li><li>Every legislative proposal must incorporate a detailed account of social, economic, environmental and administrative impact for wider awareness and subsequent legal assessment.<\/li><li>A new Legislation Committee of Parliament to oversee and coordinate legislative planning should be constituted.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Parliamentary Reforms in India<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Codification of Privileges<\/strong><br><ul><li>The privileges of legislators should be defined and delimited for the free and independent functioning of Parliament and state legislatures.<\/li><li>Article 105 may be amended to clarify the extent of immunity enjoyed by members under parliamentary privileges<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Parliamentary committee reforms<\/strong><br><ul><li>Measures for the effective functioning of&nbsp;<strong>Department Related Standing Committees<\/strong>&nbsp;like longer tenure (instead of the present one year), promoting specialization, etc ,are needed.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Review of Anti-Defection law<\/strong><br><ul><li>In order to revive debate and deliberations in the Parliament, the use of whip can be restricted to no-confidence motion only.<\/li><li>The adjudicating power of speaker vis-\u00e0-vis anti-defection law can be transferred to Election Commission of India.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Curbing Criminalization of Politics<\/strong><br><ul><li>The Supreme Court in 2017 asked the Central government to have the 12 promised special courts up and running by March 2018 to try criminal politicians in a time-bound manner within the maximum period of a year.<br><ul><li>However, till now only 7 such courts are operational.<\/li><li>Therefore, the government should make efforts to establish more number of such fast track courts.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>In order to curb the use of money in the elections, India must adopt state funding of election.For that purpose, a&nbsp;<strong>national electoral fund<\/strong>&nbsp;can be constituted, which will comprise all political donations.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Parliamentary Reforms in India<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Statutory Reforms<\/strong><br><ul><li>The&nbsp;<strong>Hybrid system of voting<\/strong>&nbsp;can be brought by amending Representation of People&#8217;s Act of 1951. However,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drishtiias.com\/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions\/the-big-picture-one-nation-one-election\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>simultaneous election<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;will require constitutional amendment.<\/li><li><strong>Hybrid system of voting<\/strong><br><ul><li>It is a mix of both first-past-the-post and proportional representation voting system.<\/li><li>It was recommended by the Law Commission in its 170th report which suggested that 25% or 136 more seats should be added to the Lok Sabha and be filled by proportional representation<\/li><li>This will lead to better representation of all sections of society.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Simultaneous election<\/strong><br><ul><li>It will&nbsp;<strong>save public money, reduce the burden on administrative setup<\/strong>&nbsp;and security forces, ensure&nbsp;<strong>timely implementation of the government policies<\/strong>.<\/li><li>It will also ensure that the administrative machinery is engaged in developmental activities rather than electioneering.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Strengthening of Election Commission of India<\/strong><br><ul><li><strong>Statutory backing to Model Code of Conduct:<\/strong>&nbsp;It is expedient to give statutory backing to the Model Code of Conduct leaving no vacuum for the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drishtiias.com\/daily-updates\/daily-news-editorials\/the-post-and-the-person-on-strengthening-the-ec\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Election Commission of India<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;(ECI) to exercise its residuary power to enforce the Model Code of Conduct.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Strengthen the Role of the Opposition<\/strong><br><ul><li>In order to strengthen the role of the opposition, the institution of shadow cabinet can be formed in India.<br><ul><li><strong>\u2018Shadow Cabinet\u2019<\/strong>&nbsp;is a unique institution of the British cabinet system.<\/li><li>It is formed by the opposition party to balance the ruling cabinet and to prepare its members for future ministerial office.<\/li><li>In such a system each action of Cabinet Minister must be countersigned by the minister in the shadow cabinet.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Parliamentary Reforms in India<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/upsc.gov.in\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UPSC<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/indian-geography\/the-northern-plains\/\">Click here to read more The Northern Plains<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Representative democracy and parliamentary institutions have endured in India for more than seven decades. It is a great tribute to India&#8217;s democratic framework. Parliamentary Reforms in India However, in recent&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6356,"featured_media":1180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-g-k"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6356"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowledgekart.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}