Omkar Dattatray
Gone are the good days of the yester years when healthy and fruitful deliberations and discussions which where advantageous to the country were the rule and not exception and such debates and discussions were taking place and more business used to be transacted and it enhanced the prestige of the parliament and such debates and discussions are today missing and it is a matter of serious concern for the government and people. It is so unfortunate that the august parliament resembles a place of a street quarrel and necessary steps need to be taken to resurrect the good image of the parliament of yester years and the parliamentarians of all the political parties should play their constructive role to improve the image and status of the parliament. What is happening these days in the parliament is not in any way in the interest of the functioning of a healthy and vibrant democracy. It is very disturbing that the temple of democracy, the parliament which is the highest forum for healthy debates, discussions and deliberations has been reduced to a position of a fish market where only disruptions and very less discussions are taking place. The monsoon session of the parliament has commenced with the very disturbing phenomena where there seems to be the danger of the washing away of this session without transacting the major and fruitful business and it is a matter of serious concern. It is so bad that the opposition members of the Lok Sabha and the Raj Sabha were indulging in indiscipline and were creating ruckus and were rushing to the well of the both Houses. Four Congress Lok Sabha members were protesting against the rising prices with pla-cards in their hands and they did not heed to the instructions of the speaker and were given last warning but they did not mend their behavior and thus they were suspended for the whole monsoon session on 25th July by the chair. This was done by the speaker to ensure proper and disruption less working of the lower house which is necessary for transacting the business of the house and allow free and frank discussion on the bills introduced. There was not only pandemonium in the Lok Sabha only but the noisy scenes and disruptions were seen in the upper house as well were the congress and some other opposition members were creating disruptions and were not allowing the Raj Sabha to function smoothly. The noisy scenes and disruptions were taking place in the upper house and the congress and some other opposition members were not allowing the smooth working of the house. Some opposition members were seen on their toes and were making indiscipline in the august house and were making the transacting of the business and conducting of the Raj Sabha proceedings difficult. Thus the chairman of the upper house suspended 19 opposition members for the remaining time of the week for their unruly behavior and indiscipline in the upper house The suspended members included TMC members as well and a Trinmool congress member said that the chair has suspended democracy and parliament has been turned into a blind well due to the suspension of the Raj Sabha members. These suspensions of the Lok Sabha and Raj Sabha members of the parliament have been done for disciplining the unruly members and to ensure the smooth functioning of the both houses of the parliament. The disruptions and creating of noisy scenes and indiscipline in the functioning and proceedings of the both houses of the parliament has in fact become a rule and practice rather than an exception because of the unruly behavior of the parliamentarians. Many man days are lost due to the obdurate behavior of the members of the lower house and the upper house. Besides crores of the taxpayers money is lost which are paid to the members as salary and other perks and this money goes waste because the proceedings of the parliament is not held smoothly and required business of forming laws gets disrupted due to the indiscipline and un parliamentary behavior of the members of the parliament. The disruptions result in the obstructing of the proceedings of the both houses of the parliament and also lead to non transacting of the business. Thus the disruptions and noisy scenes and obstructing of the parliament proceedings result in not passing of the laws which are important for the country. It has been seen that enough of the precious time of the parliamentarians is lost due to unnecessary disruptions and creating of ruckus in the houses of the parliament which leads to non passage of the bills which are important for the country. It is the experience that sometimes many days of the parliament session are lost without transacting any business and this is a big loss to the country and the taxpayer. In good olden days the parliament proceedings were conducted in very smooth manner and there were healthy and fruitful debates and decorum in the proceedings of the parliament. In those days the people were not viewing the proceedings of the parliament but these days the proceedings and functioning of the parliament is telecasted and people see all the proceedings. So the parliamentarians should conduct themselves well and show decorum and discipline while the proceedings are being conducted and the indiscipline and unruly behavior should not dent the image of the parliament and so the parliament members should show utmost discipline while taking part in the working of the parliament so that the image of the parliament is kept high. For this it is incumbent upon the members of the parliament that they give their cooperation and corroborate with the treasury benched so that the business of the parliament is carried smoothly and the necessary bills are passed after fruitful discussion and debate. It is a matter of concern that instead of fruitful debate, discussion and deliberations, much of the time of the parliament is lost in disruptions and leveling of charges and counter charges by the members and this is a sad reflection on the functioning of the parliamentary democracy. Debate and difference of opinion is the essence of the democracy and seasoned debates and discussions on the public issues and questions are necessary for the parliament functioning and without debates, discussions and healthy criticism of the functioning of the government in parliament, democracy looses all sheen and thus fruitful debates and discussions are necessary for the working of the parliament. But it is very unbecoming and unwelcome that the functioning and proceedings of the parliament is obstructed for days together and it leads to enormous losses to the country as the business of the parliament is sometimes washed due to the indiscipline and unruly behavior of the parliament members. The proceedings of both the houses of parliament have been adjourned till Monday on 29th July because of the continuous commotion on the issue of disrespect shown to the President Drapudi Murmu by Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdary and Sonia Gandhi which is very unbecoming. The adjournment of the parliament so often is no sign of the vibrancy of our democracy. Therefore what is needed that the parliament should be allowed to function smoothly and all public issues and questions should be raised and no noisy scenes should be created as it tarnishes the image of the parliament and parliamentarians. Parliament is a place where questions are asked by the members from the government and ministers reply to the questions of the parliament members and this question-answer session of the parliament should be held smoothly and responsibility for the smooth working of the parliament rests on the treasury and opposition benches. To conclude, it can be said that it is very unfortunate that the disruption instead of discussion and healthy debate is becoming a practice rather than exception. There is utmost need that the parliamentarians should maintain decorum and discipline so that the image of the parliament will get a boost and proceedings are held smoothly for the healthy functioning of the parliamentary democracy.
(The author is a Columnist and Social-Activist).
