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Wanted, action against delinquent MPs
Wanted, action against delinquent
MPs
Author: M.V. Kamath
Publication: Organiser
Date: September 15, 2002
Introduction: According to a senior
MP, Somnath Chatterji rowdyism is "the only way to put pressure on the
Government"-a remarkable statement to make for one who recently was voted
as "Best Parliamentarian". The only way?
Isn't there any way our delinquent
Members of Parliament can be taught a lesson of their lives on good behaviour?
Times was, until, say, the 1980s, when Parliament worked. When MPs showed
a deep sense of responsibility. When Bills were introduced, discussed and
passed with due ceremony and decorum. Those days, it would seem, have receded
into history. Increasingly, over the last two decades, Members of Parliament
have been behaving like street rowdies, frequently resorting to ugly behaviour
like storming into the well of the House, shouting slogans and disturbing
proceedings, thus forcing the Speaker to adjourn the sessions. The last
session of Parliament has been no exception, being forced to end without
any substantial legislative work being done. The NPA Ordinance could not
be introduced. Nor could the Bio-Diversity Bill, the Fiscal Responsibility
and Budget Management Bill, the Companies (Amendment and Second Amendment)
Bill, the Bill to repeal the Sick Industrial Companies Act, the Convergence
Bill, the Airports Authority of India (Amendment) Bill and some others
introduced as early as 2000 and 2001 be passed-all because of plain rowdyism
of the MPs. According to a senior MP, Somnath Chatterji, this seems to
be "the only way to put pressure on the Government"-a remarkable statement
to make for one who recently was voted as "Best Parliamentarian". The only
way? Isn't there a civilised way of making a point without having to break
furniture and throw microphones at each other? During the Rajiv Gandhi
Government (1984-89) as many as 46.10 hours were lost over the Bofors issue-and
nothing was gained. During the 10th Lok Sabha when P.V. Narasimha Rao was
the Prime Minister, 151.48 hours in the Lok Sabha and 131.32 hours in the
Rajya Sabha were lost over the Ayodhya issue, the Harshad Mehta Scam, the
Sukhram and Telecom Licensing Scam and the Gian Prakash Committee Report
on Sugar. Since 1998 the Lok Sabha has lost 195.23 hours and the Rajya
Sabha has lost 134.95 hours. By another count, in the five years (12th
and 13th Lok Sabha) the time lost was 233.08 hours while the Rajya Sabha
lost 176.03 hours or in all 409.11 hours. What do these figures mean? Calculations
made from budget figures of the two Houses of Parliament show that every
minute of Parliament functioning costs the nation Rs. 17,000. That comes
to about Rs. 10 lakh an hour or Rs. 75 lakh a day. Shouldn't the nation
hold our MPs responsible for the crores of rupees lost to the Exchequer
by their irresponsible behaviour? It is not that our MPs are giving their
services free to the country and to the people who elected them. They get
umpteen privileges. The list is long and include salaries, daily allowance,
constituency development allowance, office expense allowance, allowance
for meeting expenditure on postage and stationery, travelling allowance
for attending parliamentary sessions and meetings of various committees,
housing facilities, income tax relief, foreign exchange quota, diplomatic
passports, offices accommodation, entitlement of undertaking any journeys
within the country and for travels abroad. MPs get pensions for life. Ex-MPs
are entitled to receive railway passes on a life-time basis for free travel
in Class I or AC Sleeper Class anywhere in India and any number of times,
along with an attendant in Class II. Each Member of Parliament is entitled
to get three telephones installed, one at his office, one at home and one
in his constituency. He is allowed 50,000 telephone calls free. In addition
he gets a Constituency Development Fund of Rs two crore every year; for
the first one crore of rupees he is not accountable. He has to submit receipts
only on how the second crore of rupees is spent. Few Parliamentarians abroad
are so richly pampered as are ours. In the circumstances, why should we
have to put up with their rotten behaviour? True, in 1989, some 63 MPs
were suspended in a single day because of uninterrupted disruption. But
the answer to rowdyism is not mere suspension. The Speaker must take such
stern action against the offenders as to hurt them financially. Even more
importantly, the entire Parliament must be held responsible for the behaviour
even of a handful. No Member of Parliament should be paid if the House
has been forced to be adjourned. Not only that, all parties should be forced
to pay for the time lost, according to their strength. That could compel
parties to behave and to force their Members to behave. Additionally, Parliamentarians
must be told that they will automatically forfeit all allowances they are
entitled to-and the stress must be on all allowances. It seems that it
is only in India that bad behaviour is frequently seen in Parliament. I
have covered Parliaments in many countries but nowhere have I seen the
kind of behaviour that has been witnessed in India both in the Lok Sabha
and the Rajya Sabha. At this point may a suggestion be respectfully made
to the Speaker of House? Permission should be given for full television
coverage of all Parliamentary proceedings. After all, if Parliamentary
coverage is permitted for the print media, why shouldn't the same privilege
also be extended to the television media? In fact it is important that
the television media should be especially empowered to cover Parliament
so that the unruly behaviour of MPs is visually-and therefore, more effectively-conveyed
to the public at large. Every constituent must come to realise the rowdy
behaviour of the MP he or she has chosen. This, of course, presumes that
an MP has a sense of self-respect and decency. Sadly, that does not show.
In this respect, the media, too, has a responsibility. This was pointed
out by Omkar Goswami, the Chief Economist of the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) writing in Business World (September 2). He says: "We need
other methods of shaming our irresponsible worthies. For one, all editors
of leading national dailies should begin a sustained media campaign regarding
attendance, misbehaviour, obstructionism, charging into the well of the
House, and the like. For every day that the Parliament is in session, let
all such dailies print names of those MPs who did not attend, of those
who consistently disrupted proceedings and those whom the Speaker or Chairman
had to repeatedly chastise for rank misbehaviour..." There is an urgent
need to discipline our wayward MPs, not only to restore order in Parliament
but uphold national honour and just as importantly, get work done. Meanwhile,
may one ask for a full report on the manner in which our MPs have spent
their Constituency Allowances in the last three years, beginning with 1999?
And how many phone calls each MP made from his three phones? There is need
to keep a stern eye on our MPs and they should know that they are under
constant observation. All perks and privileges should be used responsibly
and not waywardly. India is not for looting. It is a point that MPs must
be taught to remember.
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