What is the issue?
- Vice President (and RS Chairman) Mr. Venkaiah Naidu appointed a two-member committee for suggesting reforms to the rules of the Upper House.
- V.K. Agnihotri, former secretary general of RS, is heading the committee.
What is the salience of Rules of Procedure?
- Both Houses of Parliament have their own rules of procedure and these rules govern every detail of how the Houses function on a daily basis.
- They determine MPs’ participation in parliamentary proceedings while making laws, passing budgets, questioning the government and representing us.
- In the seven decades since independence, governance has become complicated and the subjects of laws are more technical.
- But the rules governing the functioning of the Rajya Sabha have not kept pace with the times, thereby proving to be a retardant.
- There was hence a need for reforming them and the Agnihotri committee has been constituted with a mandate to submit its report within 3 months.
How did the current Rules of Procedure of Rajya Sabha evolve?
- When Rajya Shaba commenced for the 1st time in early 1952, it didn’t have rules of its own and rather relied on the constitutional assembly.
- Subsequently, a committee of 15 MPs were constituted from with the Rajya Shaba to evolve its own rules of procedure, which was finalised in late 1952.
- But only in 1964, Rajya Sabha got its rules codified into Article 118(1) of the constitution – which continues till now with minor alterations.
- Periodic reviews have been carried out and the last such review for the Rajya Sabha happened in 2009.
What are the critical issues facing Agnihotri Committee?
- The Agnihotri committee has to address four fundamental issues that are currently plaguing our parliamentary system.
- Firstly - It seems that the two Houses of Parliament meet mostly for transacting government business (stifling of the opposition voices).
- The committee will have to balance completion of government business with discussions raised by other political parties.
- Secondly - The existing mechanisms (like Question Hour) for securing the government’s accountability to Parliament have lost their edge.
- Measures for completely overhauling these mechanisms are required.
- Thirdly – As issues facing Parliament are now more complex and technical, strengthening the deliberative prowess of the houses is needed.
- Finally – Disruptions in parliament has become increasingly regular.
- Hence, suggesting solutions for protecting the sanctity of parliamentary proceedings is needed.
Source: Indian Express
