Decline of legislature

Why in News?

Addressing the two-day All India Speakers’ Conference in New Delhi on August 24, Union Home Minister Shah called attention to the frequent disruptions that have paralysed deliberations in Assemblies and Parliament.

UPSC Relevance

GS2, Parliament and State Legislatures – Structure, Functioning, Conduct of Business, Powers & Privileges and Issues Arising out of these.

Questions are often asked on the nuances of the overall functioning of the legislature and the challenges and trends visible with respect to it.

PYQ

2023 – Explain the structure of the Parliamentary Committee system. How far have the financial committees helped in the institutionalisation of Indian Parliament?

2024 – “The growth of the cabinet system has practically resulted in the marginalisation of parliamentary supremacy:” Elucidate.

Legislature is the law making organ of the state. An effectively working legislature is crucial to any representative democracy where people elect their representatives to legislature on their behalf to make laws. Former President Pranab Mukherji had highlighted that the essence of democracy is 3 Ds: debate & discussion, dissent and decision and how, one more D had been added to it called, disruption. This points towards the declining productivity and effectiveness of legislatures in India whether it be the parliament or the state legislative assemblies.

Role of legislatures 

Legislation: The legislature is the primary body responsible for creating, debating, and passing laws that govern the nation i.e. the positive power of legislation. It also has the power to stall, amend or repeal existing laws in.e. negative power of legislation.

Representation: As the elected body, it represents the will, interests, and concerns of the citizens, ensuring their voices are heard in the government.

Deliberation: The legislature serves as a platform for public debate on critical national issues, allowing for a thorough discussion of policy and other matters of public interest and grievance redressal.

Oversight and Accountability: It acts as a check on the executive branch of the government (the administration). Through tools like Question Hour, committees, and debates, it holds the executive accountable for its actions and decisions.

Financial Control: Legislatures have the power of the “purse,” meaning they approve the government’s budget and control taxation and spending.

Electoral: electing President, Vice President, Speaker etc.

Judicial : Impeaching President, removal of judge, vice president and adjudication in case of breaches of Privileges, anti defection law.

Constitutional: Article 368 vests Parliament with the power to amend the Constitution, subject to the “basic structure doctrine” as laid down by the Supreme Court.

Constitutional Provisions for Legislature in India

The Indian Constitution establishes a parliamentary system of government at both the central and state levels.

The Union Legislature (Parliament)

The Parliament of India is a bicameral legislature, consisting of the President and two Houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People).

Article 79: States that there shall be a Parliament for the Union, consisting of the President and two Houses.

Article 80: Outlines the composition of the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House), which represents the states and union territories. It also provides for the nomination of 12 members by the President who have special knowledge in areas like art, science, and literature.

Article 81: Defines the composition of the Lok Sabha (the Lower House), which represents the people directly through general elections.

Articles 107-111: Deal with the legislative procedures, including the introduction and passing of bills.

Article 110: Specifically defines a “Money Bill,” giving the Lok Sabha special powers over financial matters.

The State Legislature

The states in India also have a legislative body, which can be either unicameral (one house) or bicameral (two houses).

Article 168: States that for every state, there shall be a legislature consisting of the Governor and the legislative assembly. Some states may also have a legislative council.

Article 170: Defines the composition of the Legislative Assembly.

Article 171: Defines the composition of the Legislative Council (where it exists).

Article 246 and the Seventh Schedule: These provisions distribute legislative powers between the Union and the states through three lists: the Union List, State List, and Concurrent List. This ensures a clear demarcation of powers.

Recent Trends 

Parliament and State Assembly Disruptions

• Disruption and Lack of Debate: Union Home Minister Amit Shah highlighted the frequent disruptions in Parliament and state assemblies, emphasizing the critical need for debate in a democracy.
• Reduced Functioning: The 18th Lok Sabha’s functioning was at its lowest, operating for only 29% of its scheduled time, while the Rajya Sabha functioned for 34%. Two-thirds of the planned time was lost due to repeated adjournments.
• Legislative Business: In a 21-day session, 15 Bills were passed with little or no debate.

Ineffectiveness of Question Hour and Legislative Accountability

• Ineffective Question Hour: The Question Hour, which is an important tool for executive accountability, has been rendered ineffective.
• Low Oral Replies: Only 8% of starred questions in the Lok Sabha and 5% in the Rajya Sabha received an oral reply. In a 21-day session, there were 12 days in the Rajya Sabha and seven days in the Lok Sabha where no questions were answered orally.

Concentration of Power and Legislative Dysfunction

• Centralization of Power: The dysfunction of legislatures is linked to the concentration of power in the chief executive (Prime Minister and Chief Ministers).
• Decline in Sitting Days: State Assemblies met for an average of just 20 days in 2024, a significant drop from 28 days in 2017.
• Lack of Deputy Speakers: Eight state assemblies and the Lok Sabha have not had a Deputy Speaker for an extended period, which contributes to the lack of consensus and proper functioning.
• Partisanship in Committees: Parliamentary committees, once a platform for deliberative debates, have also been affected by partisanship.

Challenges to Legislatures

Declining legislative power

• The positive power of legislation is declining due to the rise and dominance of the executive backed with a strong mandate. The laws and their substance are largely decided by the cabinet and not the legislature.
• Increased use of ordinances
  • For example, the President’s promulgation of several ordinances related to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the Delhi Services Ordinance in 2023, indicate a rising trend in recent times compared to the earlier period of decline. 
• The negative  power is limited due to the majority of seats belonging to the government making it difficult for the opposition to stall or reject or amend the bills.
• Only 14 private bills have been passed in India so far.(No private bill passed  since1970)
• Legislation through parliament not legislation by parliament. 

Declining productivity

• Average sittings down to 56 (2022) from 103 (1952).
• In 17th Loksabha 48% time lost in disruption.
• Suspension of opposition MPs en masse (in big numbers).
•  103 CAA passed without debate (Kangaroo, Guillotine)
•  Reduced quality of debate which is now more marked with rhetoric and partisan agenda than genuine public interest and substantive arguments.
• Discipline & Decorum have reduced. 

Restricted freedom of deliberation

• Owing to the provisions of Anti defection Law, the MP’s are required to tow the line of party strictly and thus deliberation has been shifted to party headquarters and not parliament.
• The speaker continues to be affiliated with the party and often seen as being biased by the opposition.

Declining parliamentary committees

• Less than 20% bills are now referred to committees as compared to more than 40% in 25th LS.

Loss of “House of Notables” – Rajya Sabha

• The Rajya Sabha was intended to be a house of experts and notables, providing a non-partisan counterweight to the Lok Sabha. However, it has become increasingly partisan and prone to political logjams. 
• There has often been controversial use of Money Bill classifications to bypass the Upper House. 

Lack of Representativeness

• The number of women MP’s in LS is barely 14% in 18th LS.
• The eighteenth Lok Sabha has the lowest share of Muslim MPs in six decades. Less than 5% of its members currently are Muslims despite people from the community forming over 15% of the country’s population.
• No representative of LGBTQ community.

Other challenges 

• Criminalisation – 46% MP’s with criminal cases in 18th LS.
  • Read more about Criminalisation of Politics.
• No recorded voting which reduces accountability.
• Lack of a fixed calendar gives  full discretion to the government to decide the business of the house.

What is responsible for the decline of legislatures?

1. The rising power of the Executive due to the huge one sided  majority gives the government control over the functioning of parliament.
2. Increased polarization and confrontational politics, often fuelled by the media. 

• The rise of regional parties in parliament and identity politics has made it more of a platform for identity assertion, regional interests and political messaging instead of shaping policies in national interests and voicing genuine grievances.

3. Strict control of the party over MP’s due to anti defection law.
4. Lack of adequate preparation before introducing the bill by MP’s due to disinterest and supposed lack of information from the government.
5. Weak parliamentary committees due to lack of expertise among committee members due to limited tenure of one year and lack of staffing support and infrastructure to committees 
6. Weaker and scattered opposition with no clear leader makes it difficult to arrive at consensus and decide agenda.

Reforms

Procedural

• A fixed calendar should be there for a year.
• Minimum number of days of sitting should be fixed – 100 days for RS and 120 days for LS.
• Also fix days for discussion and questions by Opposition members as happens in the UK.
• Link salaries of MP’s to  performance and on the basis of number of days and hours of participation.
• Capacity building of MP’s – Proper training to members.
• Introduce legislature  performance index for all legislatures across India to inculcate a healthy competition.

Ethical

• Code of Conduct for MP’s.
• Strengthen the Ethics Committee and make it non-partisan with independent members also like civil activists.
• Penalty for unruly behaviour

Political Party Reforms

• Amend Anti Defection Law  to give freedom of speech and vote to MP’s except when it’s a question of survival of government like no confidence motion.
• The speaker must resign from the  political party as in the UK.
• Only constructive votes of no confidence must be allowed. It must not be used to disrupt proceedings.

Above all the citizens must be vigilant enough to choose the right representatives who voice public interest in Parliament, not rhetorics.