The two houses of the Indian Parliament have been conceived under a system of checks and balances.It is the Lok Sabha which has to debate the various issues and enable passing meaningful resolutions.The Rajya Sabha is to provide the necessary caution. It devolved on the political parties and within them to speak for the different interests and represent them in the parliament. No amount of tinkering with the constitution will improve matters if the Political party does not itself agree to be inclusive in their outlook. On the contrary they have become exclusivist in their outlook and hence un representative of the larger national identity and interests. The Houses of Parliament reflect the narrow sectarian concerns of the political parties.The Houses of Parliament has become houses of privelege for all kinds of people.Witness the unanimous passing of bills concerning the members salary and perks. The office of profit is another issue that has been dealt in a most partisan manner. All these instances point to the fact that Upper House is steadily losing its preeminence as a distinctly functioning house.Maybe it is time to merge these houses into a single House.
It seems that we are interested in supporting the rule of cotirie or the ones who are our buddies. It is pure politics. When one cannot get elected in the general elections (Loksabha)or want to make one a Honourable Minister, this is the best option. We expect one who is born and brought up in South Delhi from a posh colony to take up the issues of Chattisgarh or Assam. This is nothing but making mockery of Democracy.
The author seem to forget that most of the people elected to LokSabha are not qualified to handle many posts in the ministry, esp., finance, external affairs, etc.. If not for Rajya Sabha, the country would have been in far worse state. Until this anamoly is corrected, Rajya Sabha is needed.
Good and thoughtworthy article. A national debate on the way Parliament functions is needed. We can't keep on working on this 'failed' system. Now a days, there is no good parliamentary debates, instead, most of the working hours in the parliament is devoted to walkouts, heated arguments on some silly issues like mole in PM's office, financial allegations etc. These issues are really silly, comapred to the significance of the bills passed. Hence many important bills are passed without any debate as per Govt's wishes. It looks like ruling parties are happy that if there is a controversial issue so that they get through the bills, without any debate/amendment.
Hence we need think of an alternative, efficient and disciplined new parliamentary system. Noone wants a 'rotten' system!! I really dont know, how to change this system as all political parties are happy with the present one. Media need to push for a change.
As Mr. Raghavan righly points out, political parties choose candidates for the Lok Sabha on the basis of caste, community, money and their muscle power they wield. And hence, the level of debating issues has come down to a great extent, as recent events has shown. The choosing of members for the Upper House may be flawed. But, generally members of the Upper House are educated and can debate issues more effectively. Domocile to a State is not necessary for its intrests to be looked after. As Mr. Raghavan righly says that for legislation we should look up to Parliament in its entirety. Larger issues are at stake.
I do not want to argue on the comments made by the experts. However, Rajya Sabha should not go because it is the only forum were men with wisdom who do not stand a chance of becoming parliamentarians can hope to become MPs or Ministers and utilise their wisdom for the good of the country. If I am not wrong, in the early years of the constitution, this was more or less followed. Unfortunately, today, we have filmstars, illiterates, friends & relatives of corrupt politicians, and people with criminal background being chosen to contest for the Rajya Sabha. Can you ever think of Manmohan Singh getting elected to the Lok Sabha? Thanks to the Rajya Sabha for that. It averted an economical collapse in the early nineties. It indirectly averted a foreigner from becoming the Prime Minister of India. We desperately need intellectuals, professionals and honest people to get at least a few opportunities in governing the nation. Otherwise, we will have the Laloo Yadavs, Ramvilas Paswans, Siddaramaiah's, Meerakumars, and Arjun Singhs ruling the country and taking the country backwards. I therefore request the media and intellectuals to stop influencing the closing of the Rajya Sabha.
