Jaitley fears winter session washout | Business Standard News
Jaitley fears winter session washout | Business Standard News
My VIEW:
My VIEW:
December
15, 2015
15, 2015
Preserve
democratic institutions
democratic institutions
This refers to the
report “Jaitley fears winter session washout” (Business Standard, December 15). History moves on,
and has no rewind or fast forward buttons on the remote with which we humans,
in some circumstances, can control its future directions. The question raised
by the Finance Minister need to be slightly rephrased, like, say, “What kind of
history are WE making?” and ‘We The
People’(Refer Preamble of our Constitution) have to find an answer.
report “Jaitley fears winter session washout” (Business Standard, December 15). History moves on,
and has no rewind or fast forward buttons on the remote with which we humans,
in some circumstances, can control its future directions. The question raised
by the Finance Minister need to be slightly rephrased, like, say, “What kind of
history are WE making?” and ‘We The
People’(Refer Preamble of our Constitution) have to find an answer.
The Indian
legislatures, during the two decades each that preceded and succeeded
independence, functioned smoothly and gave shape to several statutes including
the Indian Constitution and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 which every
Indian can be proud of. There were informed and intelligent debates in
legislatures and the Constituent Assembly before finalising every clause of the
documents which later became statutes. The credit goes to the then political
leadership, which did not have an opposition which thought its only role was to
‘oppose’, and the Indian National Congress which respected and allowed
‘informed dissent’ from within and shared views with and took into confidence
on all important issues, an opposition which had great leaders, but was not
very strong, going by numbers.
legislatures, during the two decades each that preceded and succeeded
independence, functioned smoothly and gave shape to several statutes including
the Indian Constitution and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 which every
Indian can be proud of. There were informed and intelligent debates in
legislatures and the Constituent Assembly before finalising every clause of the
documents which later became statutes. The credit goes to the then political
leadership, which did not have an opposition which thought its only role was to
‘oppose’, and the Indian National Congress which respected and allowed
‘informed dissent’ from within and shared views with and took into confidence
on all important issues, an opposition which had great leaders, but was not
very strong, going by numbers.
The recent session
of Parliament which debated the relevance of observing November 26 as
Constitution Day has proved that reasonably informed debates in Parliament are
still possible. I am referring to speeches like the long one made by Sitaram
Yechury in Rajya Sabha on November 27, 2015. With the emergence of coalition
politics, legislative procedures across panchayats to Parliament have suffered
a set-back, mainly on account of divergent interests among political parties
which came together with the single agenda of forming governments. This transitional
phase is unavoidable. But it stands to reason for the taxpayer to expect from
the elected representatives, the minimum courtesy of allowing legislative
houses to function smoothly when they are in session.
of Parliament which debated the relevance of observing November 26 as
Constitution Day has proved that reasonably informed debates in Parliament are
still possible. I am referring to speeches like the long one made by Sitaram
Yechury in Rajya Sabha on November 27, 2015. With the emergence of coalition
politics, legislative procedures across panchayats to Parliament have suffered
a set-back, mainly on account of divergent interests among political parties
which came together with the single agenda of forming governments. This transitional
phase is unavoidable. But it stands to reason for the taxpayer to expect from
the elected representatives, the minimum courtesy of allowing legislative
houses to function smoothly when they are in session.
M G Warrier, Mumbai
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