In world’s biggest democracy, parliament doesn’t work

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – India’s parliament has  always been a boisterous and chaotic place that, like the  country itself, still somehow worked: these days, it’s not even  muddling through.

Manmohan Singh

Proceedings have been abruptly called off every day so far  since the 21-day winter session of the bicameral parliament  opened last week because of the din raised by legislators  bawling at each other across the floor of the house.

Open debate is treasured in the world’s largest democracy.  However, patience with members of parliament who head off for  the day after a few minutes of bellowing is wearing thin. One TV  news network asked watchers this week to answer if there should  be a new rule for legislators: “No work – no pay”.

An estimated $50,000 in running expenses and MPs’ daily  allowances is wasted for every hour of parliamentary time lost.  But the biggest cost is caused by the legislature’s failure to  introduce, debate and pass bills crucial to the functioning of  the state and its economy.

Data compiled by PRS Legislative Research, an independent  organisation that tracks the functioning of parliament, shows  that the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had planned  to pass 200 bills over the seven sessions since it was  re-elected in 2009, but managed just 57.

Disruptions meant an average of 35 percent of sitting time  was lost in the lower house of parliament over those sessions,  and 17 percent of the bills passed there were done so after less  than five minutes of debate.

“The purpose of parliamentary democracy is to provide a  forum for reasoned deliberation,” the Times of India fumed in an  editorial. “By wrecking this very platform, MPs can neither  resolve contentious issues nor do their jobs as lawmakers.”

 POLICY PARALYSIS       

Amid the logjam, lawmakers found time yesterday to call  for their status to be upgraded on a list of India’s VIPs. A  committee submitted a report that called for MPs to have  flashing lights put on their cars that would allow them to speed  through the country’s clogged streets, local media reported.

Another recommendation was to teach civil servants to be  more courteous to politicians, after “recurrent instances” of  protocol violations, the Press Trust of India reported. The  committee expressed its “displeasure” at lawmakers’ ranking,  which was “much below their status”, the news agency said.

The latest stalemate in parliament has come over Singh’s  decision to push through cabinet a new regulation that allows  foreign supermarket chains to enter the country’s long-protected  retail sector, with opposition lawmakers haranguing the  government side from the moment proceedings get underway.

Hobbled by a string of corruption scandals, the government  has dithered on reform in its second term, and Singh has lost  much of his credibility as the reformer who turned India around  from near-bankruptcy 20 years ago to an economic wonder.

The appearance of parliamentary dysfunction only adds to a  sense of policy paralysis that puts investors off India at a  time of slowing growth.

C.V. Madhukar, director of PRS Legislative Research, argues  that the parliamentary rules of engagement need an overhaul. He  suggests that India could take a leaf out of the rule book of  its former colonial ruler, Britain, where the opposition is  allotted 20 days per year when it can set the agenda.

“It’s not like that in India,” he said. “When the opposition  wants to raise something the government has to agree.”