New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee Monday said that while ordinances can be issued to "meet certain exigencies and under compelling circumstances", the diversity of the country and the magnitude of its problems required that parliament "becomes a more effective platform to build consensus on public policies".
In his address to higher educational and research institutions on the topic 'Parliament and Policymaking' through video conferencing, the president said that parliament stands for the will and aspirations of the people and "it is the platform where through debate and deliberations, this 'will' and 'aspirations' have to be prioritized and translated into laws, policies and concrete programmes of action.
"When that does not happen, an important element in the functioning of a democracy gets compromised to the disadvantage of the people."
The president said a legislature is effective "only if it is able to address the differences amongst stakeholders and succeeds in building a consensus for the law to be enacted and enforced. When the parliament fails in discharging its law-making role or enacts law without discussion, it breaches the trust reposed in it by the people. This is neither good for the democracy nor for the policies anchored in those laws."
He said in the past decade, referring to the time when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power, "people have been given entitlements for right to information, limited job security in rural areas, education and food through legal guarantees. Each legislative intervention has resulted in a shift in policy towards the objectives laid down in our constitution and in furthering human well-being".
The president said that parliament's role in policy articulation, implementation and oversight is critical and it is incumbent on MPs to discuss and undertake adequate scrutiny of all business transacted in the house.
"Unfortunately, the time devoted by the members in parliament has been gradually declining. The first three Lok Sabhas had 677,581 and 578 sittings, respectively. Compared to that, the 13th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabhas had 356, 332 and357sittings, respectively. We all should hope that the 16th Lok Sabha reverses this trend," he remarked.
On the frequent disruptions of parliament, the president said: "There is a growing tendency to resort to disruption as a means of parliamentary intervention. Dissent is a recognized democratic expression, but disruption leads to loss of time and resources, and paralyzes policy formulation... But, under no circumstances should there be disruption of the proceedings. A noisy minority cannot be allowed to gag a patient majority."
He said that the framers of the constitution laid down that an ordinance must be replaced by a law not later than six weeks from the re-assembly of the two houses, while article 85 further provides that six months shall not intervene between the last sitting of one session and the first sitting of the next session.
"India's diversity and the magnitude of its problems require that the parliament becomes a more effective platform to build consensus on public policies and a bulwark of our democratic ideals. The proceedings in parliament must be conducted in a spirit of cooperation, harmony and purpose. The content and quality of debates should be of a high order. Maintenance of discipline and decorum in the House and observance of etiquette and decency are necessary," he stressed.
He said "parliament must not yield its space for legislating and policymaking to mass mobilization and street protests, for that may not always provide considered solutions to our problems. To retain the trust and faith of the people, the parliament must enact laws to put in place policies that address the concerns and aspirations of the people".
The president is reported to have asked the government for clarifications before approving the ordinance on land acquisition reforms and also on the government's urgency to bring out the ordinance.
10 percent of the world's population will get corona vaccine by December
Companies leading the race to make the coronavirus vaccine can produce 70 to 75 million doses by the end of December. This would be sufficient to immunize about ten percent of the world's population.
Performance analysis of Indian cricketers in 2022: Shreyas-Surya emerges in batting, Arshdeep-Siraj shines in bowling
The year 2022 was mixed for Indian cricket. India won the maximum number of international matches, but like the last 9 years, the ICC trophy remained far away this time too. Kohli's return to form was
India dropped out of the list of top 15 infected countries; Patients recovered three times faster in the country
A year has passed since the onset of the corona epidemic in the country. Last year, the first patient was found in Kerala on this day. Since then, 1 crore 7 lakh 34 thousand 26 people have fallen prey
Arshdeep Singh made a big jump in ICC T20 Rankings, and Sam Curran and Ben Stokes also got the benefit
In the T20 World Cup 2022, Indian team fast bowler Arshdeep Singh was impressed a lot. This player took 10 wickets in the entire tournament. However, Arshdeep Singh got the reward of excellent bowling
China had gone to reach 10 island countries, did not agree to the agreement; hit hard
China's efforts to unite the 10 island countries of the Pacific Ocean region have suffered a setback. Recently, China, which increased the challenge of countries like America, Japan, and Australia by
Chris Jordan: IPL 2023 Shock to Mumbai, Jofra Archer out of remaining matches, England's Yorker specialist becomes replacement
In IPL 2023, the match is to be played between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday. However, Rohit's paltan has already suffered a major setback before this. Fast bowler, Jofra
Paresh Rawal did not get the script of Hera Pheri 3, Akshay Kumar does not have the rights?
Hera Pheri 3 is one of the most anticipated films to date which has been in the news since its announcement. But ever since Paresh Rawal has taken an exit from the film, the matter has heated up.
Bharat Ratna: Five personalities including Narasimha Rao-Chaudhary Charan Singh received Bharat Ratna, honored by the President
President Draupadi Murmu today honored five personalities selected by the Government of India with Bharat Ratna at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP
Supreme Court: You reached the Supreme Court in defense of free schemes, said - it is very important for unequal society
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has filed an application in the Supreme Court opposing a PIL against political parties promising free schemes during election campaigns. The party has said in its application
Women help desk will be in every police station of UP to hear the complaint of women, women nodal officers deployed in every district
Now women will not hesitate to go to the police stations in Uttar Pradesh and register their complaints. Women will be able to openly speak in the police station. For this, there will be a women's
