As the second leg of the budget session of Parliament concluded on Thursday, Chakshu Roy, Head of Outreach at PRS Legislative Research (a data think tank), said that the current one was the sixth shortest budget session since 1952. In an interview with The New Indian Express, Roy said that by not discussing and scrutinizing the Budget, Parliament loses out on the opportunity of suggesting alterations. Excerpts from an interview with Preetha Nair:
The second leg of the Budget session concluded on Thursday. Except for a few bills, no business was transacted in both Houses of Parliament. Chaos and disruptions have become a norm for Parliament proceedings in the last few years. How detrimental is it to democracy?
Parliament is a platform for deliberations and consensus building. A non-functioning Parliament due to continued disruptions is disheartening. Parliament needs to devise mechanisms to ensure that consensus is reached on contentious issues that will routinely crop up in every session. When Parliamentary functioning is disrupted, business is either taken up in din or not taken up at all. In both these situations, the country loses out on well-reasoned policymaking. After eight consecutive sessions of adjourning ahead of schedule, Parliament sat for the entirety of its scheduled days. However, no discussion took place throughout the second part of the session.
What's the overall productivity of the Parliament in this Budget session?
Entering the fourth year of its term, the 17th Lok Sabha has functioned for 230 sitting days so far, with 25 days (10 days during the first part and 15 days during the second part) dedicated to the 2023 Budget Session. Overall, Lok Sabha functioned for 33% of its scheduled time (46 hours) and Rajya Sabha for 24% (32 hours). However, this average is skewed by the functioning in the first half. In the second half, Lok Sabha worked only for 5% and Rajya Sabha for 6% of the scheduled time. Notably, this has been the sixth shortest budget session since 1952. This session also saw the least amount of time spent on questions in the current Lok Sabha and only about 7% of starred questions were answered in either House.
The Finance Bill was passed without any debate. How worrying is the trend? Why is it important to have a thorough discussion on the Budget?
Legislative scrutiny of the government's expenditure is a key component of the checks and balances in our democratic setup. In the last few years, the Lok Sabha has consistently passed more than 50% of the budget without any discussion. This year, the entire voted expenditure budget worth Rs 42 lakh crore for 2023-24 was passed without any discussion. How the government spends the taxpayers' money is an indicator of the government's vision for the country. By not discussing and scrutinizing the Budget, Parliament loses out on the opportunity of informing this vision and suggesting alterations. As for the big picture, constitutional frameworks for debate and discussions on budgetary scrutiny should not be reduced to mere formalities. They need to be followed in both letter and spirit.
It's said that an average of Rs 2.5 lakhs is invested in Parliament every minute. Should we worry more about the cost of Parliament or the eroding of the democratic process?
Disruptions in Parliament have a larger cost than just the taxpayers' money that it takes to run the two Houses. The role of Parliament is not to approve government business like Bills and Budgets, but to discuss important issues, build consensus and hold the government accountable. More than the wastage of money, the real cost to the nation is the cost of not debating laws and discussing issues that impact the entire country. It should worry us that the key duties of Parliament are not being discharged effectively.
With both the government and opposition not ready to budge, what's the way ahead?
Several measures can be undertaken to address the current state of affairs. One key measure is to increase the number of sitting days. Another is allowing more room for Opposition MPs to set the agenda. For instance, the UK Parliament has opposition days where the opposition parties decide the issues that will be taken up for discussion.