news details |
|
|
| DISRUPTIVE PARLIAMENT | | | DK Kotwal
To begin with, let us un
derstand the meaning
of the word ,Parliament ,in the 13th century it was used for after dinner discussions among monks .In the 18th century AD it found its use for political purpose . If we have a look at the functioning of either parliament or state legislatures, discussions and debates have been replaced by disruptions and adjournments .Very interesting to share a personal experience with you ,one day I asked my students about the working of the parliament ,strangely the answer was not on the expected lines .One student very introvert and shy in his demeanour unexpectedly stood up and said," Parliament is a meeting place of elected representatives of people who remain ever busy in settling their personal score disrupting its proceedings and frequently the houses adjourn sine die. One more student voluntarily responded, "Even if the parliament works the honourable members fall out over non issues and from hot words they come to blows ,throwing mikes other furniture items at each other. They relish in indulging in hooliganism and transform the highest institute of the country into a bedlam." Such a poor impression the youths have got about the parliament forced me to think that elected members have become disillusioned people for them.
Indian democracy has a parliamentary political system in which the majority party's leader becomes prime minister and he makes his cabinet for carrying out executive work. The minority party acts as an opposition. Its main role is to put a check on the governments working entering into discussions and debates and give its assent to the policies , programmes and pass the bills that are for the welfare of the public. As predicted the present parliamentary session will be a disruptive session, the beginning is on expected line .For the first three days, there had been a complete washout, no transaction ever occurred in both houses ,there remained a deadlock between BJP and opposition congress . There were enough indication emanating from the two all parties meetings one convened by the govt hosted by parliamentary affair minister Sh Venkaiah Naidu and another by loksabha speaker Smt Sumitra Mahajan. Where prime minister Sh Narinder Modi appealed to opposition to use parliament time for debate whereas the congress ,though isolated remained stuck to its stand of external affair minister Sushma Swaraj ,Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and her counterpart MP chief minister Shiv Raj Singh Chouhan for their alleged involvement in Lalit Modi controversy and Vyapam scam to be removed. PM even went further to say that running of the parliament was shared responsibility of both ruling and opposition parties , and govt was ready to debate and discuss all the issues on the floor of houses. External minister Sushma Swaraj was ready to issue a statement in the parliament to clear the misconception of congress amid charges of aiding a fugitive. But the congress led by Gulam Nabi Azad ,leader of opposition in upper house appeared un impressed. The party maintained that its demand for resignation of tainted leaders was non-negotiable. Azad recalled how then opposition BJP had washed a full session pressing for removal of Maharashtra CM Ashok Chouhan over the alleged involvement in the Adarsh Housing Scam ."Parliament resumed after we sacked Chavan. We want similar standards apply to BJP leaders",Azad said reportedly drawing support only from the left. It is matter of respite for BJP led NDA govt that the whole opposition is not united .JD(U)seeks only a discussion on the issue. AAP and INLD to begin with , seek only answers. The Trinmool Congress and AIADMK refrained from attending the meetings. Whereas SP, BSP and BJD dissociated themselves from Congress demand. From foregoing discussion its crystal clear that the parliamentarians are playing revengeful politics and are bent upon letting down each other and are showing least concern for the purpose they have been elected for. They have to sort out the problems and issues of one hundred and twenty five crores of Indians ,they are to enter into discussions, debates and interactions in the house over the problems and afflicitions the society is inflicted with and consequently solutions found out and favourable measures immediately taken for all the welfare of the country. India can't tolerate such irresponsible behaviour and callous attitude of its parliamentarians and state legislators any longer as here more than 45% of population is living below poverty line and one third of the population is having no or temporary shelters for saving themselves from vagaries of nature. One third of population goes off to sleep without filling their bellies. The lawmakers must make law and formulate policies that will make India move forward on path of progress and development , otherwise it is bound to move backward for which they will be never forgiven by Indians caught in abject poverty and ignorance. President Sh Pranab Mukherjee not only the constitutional head of the state but also as one of the longest serving parliamentarians in country has not missed out any occasion to remind legislators that democracy should compromise on debate and discussion but not the disruption. Even in the month of May 2015 president in his special address to Uttrakhand assembly, reminded legislators of his statement of 4DS and further reminded the assembly that cardinal principle of effective functioning of parliamentary system is that the majority will rule and minority will oppose ,expose and if possible depose. However the minority must accept the decision of majority while majority must respect views of minority. But alas ever such lofty ideas turn deaf for our revered parliamentarians and legislators. The vice president Hamid Ansari ,who is also chairman of Rajya Sabha has taken points of diagnosing causes of disruptions. In his address on the occasion of 125th anniversary of the Kerala assembly at Trianantpurum in Sept 2013 he said "in the mean time and not withstanding solemn commitment, time continues to be lost in disruptions at the expense of listed business both the accountability and of legislation. These disruptions take place with knowledge and instance of political parties and their leadership and undertaken to (a) attract public attention )(b)force executive to undertake the course or action proposed by them (c)demonstrate their ability to logjam the functioning of the legistature ."Referring to rules to run the house ,he went on to state that the "un fortunate reality today is that these rules of procedure are being violated brazenly and with impunity. Forgotten the simple truth 'applicable to all citizen including legislators, that the rules are to be observed , not discarded or subverted.' As of now it is certain that today what," as you sow so shall you reap". Both in 14 and 15th Lok sabhas when BJP was in opposition one of the biggest causalities was the passage of union budget with little or no debate at all. Hundreds of crores of tax payers money was allotted by govt of the day and budget passed without any debate. The opposition could be pinch hitting the govt over Lalit Modi and Vyapam issues but there are many other unresolved pending issues in the lawmaking grinder, is the contentious land bill ,the far reaching goods and services tax bill, the real estate regulation bill and a few others that can't afford to be ignored for a long time. In Sept 1956 Lal Bhadur Shastri offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahubnager that led to 112deaths. However , Nehru didn't accept his resignation. Three months later he resigned accepting moral and constitutional responsibility for a railway accident at Ariyaur in TamilNadu that resulted in 144 deaths ,while speaking in the parliament on the accident ,Nehru stated that he was accepting the resignation because it would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because Shastri was in any way responsible for the accident. The present so called congressmen must learn lessons from their predecessors---moralist congressmen who led a principled life and the party that has become a scam party must follow the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi who never accepted any chair and led a simple and pure life dedicated to the service of the country and humanity as a whole .Following the moral cues drawn from the congressmen like Lal Bahadur Shastri, allegedly CM's of the congress ruled states----former Goa CM allegedly accused of accepting bribes to favour US firm must be dealt with as per the law of country; Kerala CM for the Solar scam, Uttrakhand CM for flood relief diversion and Himachal CM for graft charges must step down owning their moral responsibilities and set an example for others to follow especially the young brigade of congress MP's who insist upon stalling the working of Parliament and determined to corner the ruling party on issues of Modi gate and Vyapam scam. Like Advani former Deputy PM of India and veteran BJP leader tendered his resignation from membership of Parliament following allegations of his involvement in the infamous hawala scam in 1996 and regained his position in 1998 after his acquittal from the charges." For a politician to command people's trust is the biggest responsibility. What morality demands? i.e."Raj Dharma" and to maintain probity in public life ,"Mr Advani was quoted as having said to the Bengali daily Anand Bazaar Patrika. This is an ideal example of a moral character for parliamentarians to follow. If it is alleged that there is an involvement of External Affairs Minister ------Sushma Swaraj and of CM Rajasthan--- Vasundara Raje in Modi gate issue .They are reported to have helped Mr Lalit Modi who has escaped from the clutches of law following his involvement in the multi crore IPL laundering case. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
