NEW DELHI: CPI MP Binoy Viswam has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his disappointment over the length of the Monsoon Session of Parliament and alleged the duration of such sittings is coming down drastically under the present government.
In his letter, Viswam stated that as per the announcement by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, the Monsoon Session will commence on July 20 and conclude on August 11, effectively sitting for only 17 days.
"This is unfortunately little given the multitudes of issues and legislations demanding urgent attention of the government and lawmakers. It is being observed by democratically-minded people and lawmakers alike that the duration of Parliament sittings is coming down drastically to the disadvantage of our democratic parliamentary republic," he said.
Elaborating further, the MP pointed out that while the first Lok Sabha had 677 sittings divided among 15 sessions, the 16th Lok Sabha, which brought the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to majority, had only 331 sittings divided by 17 sessions.
"The duration of Parliament sessions and number of sittings have more than halved since the first Lok Sabha. While average sittings per session for the first Lok Sabha were 45 days, it came down to a mere 19 days during the 16th Lok Sabha. The current 17th Lok Sabha is already forecasted to have the lowest sitting days for a full five years Lok Sabha with only 230 sitting days till the last budget session," he said.
Viswam also claimed that beyond the sitting days, a decline in the quality of debate on critical issues has also occurred under Modi's regime.
The Lok Sabha passed five bills in under an hour during the 2021 Monsoon Session, issues of paramount importance like the farm laws and labour codes were cleared amid chaos, he alleged.
"It appears that the parliamentary majority of the BJP is being abused to make the Parliament ineffective and redundant. You have referred our country as 'Mother of Democracy' several times. In this context, I urge you to take immediate steps to strengthen parliamentary democracy in the country.
"It must be ensured that Parliament functions for at least 100 days in a calendar year to give sufficient attention to the needs of our vast and diverse country.
I hope this demand will find your attention," the parliamentarian added.