Disruption is totally unacceptable in a parliamentary system. People send representatives to speak and not to sit on dharna and create any trouble on the floor. Our honourable Parliamentarians would do well to heed President Pranab Mukherjee’s words, delivered as part of a lecture on electoral reforms on December 8. More than two weeks of the Parliament’s Winter Session have already been lost due to Opposition protests over demonetisation.
While no one is denying our lawmakers the right to express opinions in the House, the raving ruckus leading to daily adjournments is an abominable practice which needs to be legislated against immediately. Way back in September 2012, Parliamentary Affairs Minister and Congress MP from Chandigarh Pawan Kumar Bansal said, “In one year, Parliament runs for eighty days during sessions. Each day, business in both Houses is conducted for around six hours... Each minute of running the House costs Rs 2.5 lakh.” Almost 77 per cent of the session’s business time in Lok Sabha and 72 percent in Rajya Sabha was lost in that (Monsoon) session due to disruptions, and the Opposition must realise that “enough is enough”, he fumed.
He was protesting against the Opposition BJP’s stalling of the House, demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation over the “coalgate” and other scams. This time, the raucous Opposition parties are refusing to let the House function until the prime minister himself engages in a debate on demonetisation in Parliament. The Centre, on its part, is adamant that senior ministers are perfectly capable of handling the debate, and it was not mandatory for the prime minister to be present. The peeved Opposition thus keeps stalling the proceedings and staging dharnas outside Parliament. Are we paying Rs 2.5 lakh per minute for this? As President Mukherjee declared, “For demonstration, you can choose any other places. But for God’s sake, do your job.”