In yet another flip-flop by members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Lokpal Bill, three Congress MPs on Wednesday appended their dissent notes even as the committee formally adopted its report. Directly opposing the government line, these MPs now want Group C employees to be brought within the purview of the proposed ombudsman. As things stand, the 30-member committee has turned in a report with 15 notes of dissent emanating from the 12 parties represented on it, including the ruling party. This is unprecedented in Parliament’s history and standing committees have long had a tradition of achieving bipartisan agreement on tricky issues. Dissent notes have been few and far between.
Parliamentary committees in the past had built up a strong tradition of consensual working where members rose above partisan political considerations to discuss national issues and recommend appropriate policy responses for considerations of the executive and legislative wings of the state. That the report of the committee on the Lokpal Bill should be saddled with such an onerous burden of dissidence shows that the institution is gradually losing its élan. And that too after Parliament had unequivocally expressed favour of a strong Lokpal Bill through a unanimous sense of the House resolution.
Viewed in the backdrop of open bickering in the previous and current Public Accounts Committee and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam, this betrays an unfortunate tendency to undermine the institutions of democracy and constitution. The public criticism of people holding constitutional positions like the CAG, the election commission and even higher judiciary shows that even people holding responsible offices in the UPA government are unable to rise above partisan interests. It is time they realised that in a democracy, the sanctity of these institutions should be kept above consideration of party politics. They should shun the path of confrontation and show self-restraint and a desire to seek consensus even on contentious issues.