Despite the limited monsoon session, Parliament must scrutinize the government’s work and guide policy. Examine (200 Words)
Refer - The Hindu
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 4 years
KEY POINTS
· Parliament will be meeting after 175 days, the longest gap without intervening general elections and just short of the six-month constitutional limit.
· This is unlike many other countries where both the plenary and committees have adopted technology to enable members to participate from home. The absence of a functioning Parliament or Committees implies that there has been no check or guidance on government action.
Court interventions
· The lack of parliamentary oversight has been compounded by judicial intervention in many policy issues. For example, the government’s actions related to the lockdown and the hardships caused to migrants should have been questioned by Parliament.
· Discussions in parliamentary forums would have helped the government get feedback on the ground situation across the country and fine-tune its response.
· To take another example, the Court decided to limit the period in which telecom companies have to pay their dues to the government, and overruled a cabinet decision.
· This is a policy matter that balances interests of telecom companies, consumers (who suffer through price hikes or potential formation of a monopoly), and banks (which may face defaults by telecom companies). This issue is best judged by the government with oversight by Parliament. Of course, if there is illegality (say, corruption), then the matter should be judged by courts.
Short session, much business
· Parliament should recover lost ground by fulfilling its constitutionally mandated role. It has a large number of issues to discuss in the short 18-day session.
· The fact that the two Houses are working in shifts to use the same physical space limits the scope of extended sittings on any day. In the period since the last session, the government has issued 11 ordinances.
· While the ordinances related to COVID-19 have a temporary application, Parliament should refer those with long-term implications (such as the farming and the banking ones) to the respective committees for detailed scrutiny.
Core issues
· Several events have taken place over the last six months that need thorough discussion. This includes ways to tackle the spread of the novel coronavirus and limit mortality, and possible paths in the months ahead that could guide government action.
· Economic growth, which has been decreasing for the last couple of years, has had a sharp fall in the first quarter of this fiscal year. This has far-reaching implications for creating jobs, stability of the banking system, and government finances.
· The absence of Question Hour and a shorter Zero Hour restricts the ability of Members of Parliament to hold the government accountable and represent public interest.
· Despite the curtailed session and the constraints due to the coronavirus, they should make the best of the limited time to do so. They need to wrest back their rightful role in our democracy.
