>Also I have a question - the "Parliament" is called "Lok Sabha" t>oday. What are the "Members of Parliament" called in Hindi, >other than MP?
I am guessing: Parliament: Sabha Lower House/House of Commons: Lok Sabha Upper House/House of Lords: Rajya Sabha --Ram On 10/1/07, Dilip/Dil Deka <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I doubt whether some of the MPs are familiar with the constitution or are > even aware that the government consists of three branches. Do the freshman > MPs at least get some orientation in the first few weeks to understand the > process of government? > Probably some such training will help remove the stalemate. It is very > hard to remove partisanship but it is possible to remove some of the > hardness due to partisanship. There are issues where the nation comes above > party politics and the debaters need to be aware of these. The > parliamentarians of the past that the writer extols had this calber and the > debates were meaningful. > Also I have a question - the "Parliament" is called "Lok Sabha" today. > What are the "Members of Parliament" called in Hindi, other than MP? > Dilip > > > FROM THE ASSAM TRIBUNE: > *EDITORIAL* > ------------------------------ > *Parliament withering away > — Poonam I Kaushish* > *W*e have been through all this before. Year after year. Of how India's > Parliament is increasing being devalued. Crores of tax payers hard earned > money being swept aside by the verbal torrent of puerile discourse that > leads to walkouts, even near fisticuffs. Wherein the very protectors of this > high temple of democracy have become its denigrators and destroyers. > > Of how in their "collective wisdom" our MPs have been spewing sheer > contempt on Parliament, wittingly or unwittingly. Reducing it into an > akhara, where politically motivated bashing has become the order of the day > and agenda a luxury to be taken up when lung power is exhausted. Epitomising > a cesspool of every thing that has gone wrong with India today! Testimony to > this sharp decline was this year's shortest ever monsoon session of barely > 17 days with the longest daily adjournments and hardly any work, a mere 64 > hours. > > Shockingly, the session, originally scheduled from 10 August till 14 > September, was hurriedly cut short and adjourned sine die four days earlier. > No, not because of lack of agenda or legislative business. But due to the > proceedings being disrupted in both Houses on a daily basis thanks to the > stand-off between the Opposition and the Treasury benches on the Indo-US > nuclear deal. The former demanding a JPC on the contentious subject and the > latter adamantly declining. > > With the result that Parliament further lost credibility and prestige. > Leading a much anguished Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to State in > his concluding remarks: "It is extremely disturbing that the highest public > forum in the country has come to a standstill which has raised questions > about the utility of our system of Parliamentary democracy and about its > future." Raising a moot point: Is Parliament becoming irrelevant? > > That we are slowly but surely heading towards disaster is obvious. What > troubles one is the new dimension to this age-old malaise. That it does not > strike a chord among our MPs. Who largely continue to drift along smugly > without thinking of what they have done to Parliament. Of how they have > mauled it and continue to do so. Most distressing is that there is no sense > of outrage or shame. > > The legislative business transacted during the session illustrates how > "powerless" parliament has become in stemming the mounting rot. Let's start > with the Question Hour, the hyphen which links Parliament to Government and > ensures ministerial accountability. Distressingly out of the 380 starred > questions listed, only 35 could be answered. Thus, on an average about > 2.05 question were answered per day. Why? The MPs were too busy – rushing > into the well of the House, raising slogans and preventing transaction of > any business. > > Mindlessly, ignoring the fact that the hour, treated as sacrosanct in the > House of Commons, belong to the private members and empowers them to push > the Government and even it's Prime Minister into the dock. Any member can > ask any question within the framework of the rules. This, according to > constitutional experts, is what makes the Westminster model of Parliamentary > democracy superior to all other systems. The crucial Question Hour > consequently got "guillotined" time and again, notwithstanding the midnight > oil burnt by various ministries preparing for the answers. > > Not only that. Incredibly, four Bills were passed by the House without any > discussion whatsoever due to continuous interruptions. No one cared that the > bills failed to meet the conventional parliamentary requirement of three > readings. The first reading is done when the Minister moves for the bill's > consideration and explains its philosophy and its broad parameters. > Thereafter, the bill is closely thrashed out clause by clause in the second > reading. The third and final reading is done when all the clauses and > schedules, if any, have been considered and voted by the House and the > Minister moves that the Bill be passed. > > Veterans recall Nehru's time when battles royal were fought during the > second reading even over the placement of a comma! Surprised? > Constitutionally and legally, the placing of a comma could make all the > difference to the meaning of a clause. Lamented a Lok Sabha MP, "I worked > long and hard preparing for speaking on one of the scheduled bills. All my > effort is wasted. If one were to divide 64 hours by 17 sitting, only > three-and-half days of concrete work have been transacted." > > As matters stand, Parliament has already been reduced to a farce. It has > become an annual ritual to guillotine the demands for grants of various > ministries totalling thousands of crores of rupees. What is more, the > Treasury Benches are now increasingly using its brute majority to rubber > stamp various policies trumpeted through ministerial fiats and ordinances. > Remember, Parliament's greatest strength and utility lies in its control > over the Treasury. This has been systematically eroded. Bringing things to > such a pass that a party in power today has no qualms in pushing ahead with > populist pronouncements at the drop of a hat. Even when that goes against > all parliamentary norms. > > Parliament's all-round decline is today easily Delhi's best known secret. > Everyone talks about it. Not a few lament over it. Be it the quality of > leadership, brand of MPs, parliamentary standards and debating skills. > Worse, everyone also knows the raison de atre of this sorry state of > affairs: the all-pervasive corrupt-criminal nexus and the all-enveloping > caste-creed and vote-bank paradigm. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet all > willy nilly abet it. > > Ironically, even as Parliament withered, it was a win-win session for our > MPs. Who earned hefty salaries, perks and innumerable freebies including > free lunches in the historic Central Hall, India's most exclusive club, for > shouting and playing truant. Normally, they should have been held > accountable for their actions, as during the Nehru era. But no one seems to > care anymore beyond shedding crocodile tears and indulging in boring > rhetoric, as witnessed once more when the President presented Best > Parliamentary awards to Sharad Pawar, Sushma Swaraj, P Chidambaram and Mani > Shankar Aiyar. > > Parliamentary democracy can succeed only when the rules of the game are > followed honestly. Constitutional and other steps therefore, need to be > taken soonest to restore to our Parliament its functional glory as > originally conceived. Bemoaned a senior CPI leader, "Parliament is being > reduced to nothing. MPs are not doing their work but prefer to take > allowances... the largest democracy is not functioning. This must be set > right!" > > The monsoon session has sharply posed a bigger question mark than ever > before over the future of India's parliamentary democracy. The issue is not > just of our MPs making ones presence felt by muscle-flexing in the House of > the People and in the Council of States or even intolerance of another's > point of view. It is about upholding the highest standards of morality, > credibility and dignity of Parliament. The MPs are servants of the people, > not their masters. > > If Parliament is to function and regain its lost lustre among the people, > the Government and the Opposition have to bury the hatchet of distrust. The > Treasury and the Opposition benches are two sides of the democratic coin and > must ensure orderly debate, discussion and functioning. Basically, the > Opposition must have its say, even as the Government has its way. Else, it > will lose its credibility and prestige. Worse, become redundant and > irrelevant. > > Clearly, it is time to give serious thought to rectifying the flaws in our > system and urgent overhauling. If necessary, rules should be drastically > changed to put Parliament back on the rails. Indira Gandhi once wisely said: > "Parliament is a bulwark of democracy. It has also a very heavy task of > keeping an image that will gain it the faith and respect of the people. > Because, if that is lost, then I don't know what could happen later." Time > to heed her words and stop the drift towards disaster. INFA > > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > assam@assamnet.org > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > >
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