The consensus republic: A lesson for today’s parliamentarians from the Constituent Assembly

Ambedkar appreciated and celebrated the dissenting voices successful the Constituent Assembly. He said, “…fortunately, determination were rebels. They were Mr Kamath, Dr P S Deshmukh, Mr Sidhva, Prof K T Shah and Pandit Hirday Nath Kunzru. The points they raised were mostly ideological. That I was not prepared to judge their suggestions, does not diminish the worth of their suggestions nor lessen the work they person rendered to the Assembly successful enlivening its proceedings. But for them, I would not person had the accidental which I got for expounding the principles underlying the Constitution…”

The past 2 decades of the improvement of parliamentary ideology (2004-24) successful India should beryllium cautiously examined to recognize and admit the request for reimagining the civilization of antiauthoritarian engagement successful Parliament. This is simply a infinitesimal of introspection for each members of Parliament.

Data demonstrates the request for superior introspection wrong Parliament regarding however this astir captious instauration of our ideology could beryllium strengthened and made much relevant. Before 1990, each Lok Sabha utilized to convene for 550 days spanning 3,500 hours, which declined to 345 days spanning 1,800 hours post-1990. The 17th Lok Sabha held the lowest fig of sittings, with 274 days implicit 5 years. The 1st Lok Sabha sat for 677 sittings during 1952-57. The 15th Lok Sabha passed 192 bills portion the 5th Lok Sabha passed 487 bills. The percent of bills referred to Parliamentary Committees reduced from 71 per cent successful the 15th Lok Sabha to 16 per cent successful the 17th Lok Sabha. The 15th and 17th Lok Sabha passed 36 per cent and 35 per cent of bills successful little than 1 hour, respectively. The 15th Lok Sabha mislaid 37 per cent of its scheduled clip to disruptions, portion the 16th Lok Sabha mislaid 16 per cent. The mean clip spent connected Union Budget treatment declined from 120 hours earlier 1990 to 35 hours post-1990. In 2023, 2018 and 2013, the full fund was passed without immoderate discussion.

I judge determination are 3 captious lessons that today’s members of Parliament indispensable larn from the Constituent Assembly.

The Constituent Assembly’s members represented the astir divers interests; they came from antithetic backgrounds. They discussed and debated analyzable issues with sincerity and conviction. They were conscious that they were discussing issues tenable radical tin person antithetic perspectives on. This quality to travel together, sermon and statement analyzable issues of law, policy, and governance was the hallmark of the Constituent Assembly.

This could service arsenic an important acquisition for modern parliamentarians. The issues they were discussing past are not importantly antithetic from the issues we are facing today. Overcoming them requires inspired enactment and religion successful Parliament arsenic an instauration to beforehand respect, dignity and fraternity among each members.

The singular facet of the Constituent Assembly was not lone that divergent governmental and ideological interests prevailed but that adjacent wrong the aforesaid governmental persuasion, determination were antithetic views. Pluralistic views that promoted a antiauthoritarian civilization were precise overmuch portion of the Assembly’s discourse. Of course, it indispensable beryllium mentioned that beardown governmental parties with their ideological interests had not taken basal and the Assembly, though functioning arsenic a provisional Parliament, did not transportation the humanities load that our existent parliamentarians have. Nevertheless, astatine a clip erstwhile determination is an aspiration for nation-building efforts to code important issues of our clip — beryllium it poverty, inequality, employment, livelihood, education, healthcare, situation and galore different problems of quality improvement — determination is simply a request to make governmental statement wrong Parliament.

India’s law past has demonstrated the bonzer powerfulness of corporate consciousness and of divers radical coming unneurotic to laic the instauration of a caller India. Many members of the Constituent Assembly, who fought for India’s freedom, aboriginal participated successful the authorities astatine the authorities and cardinal levels. I judge the motivations of today’s parliamentarians, careless of governmental ideology, converge with the imaginativeness of the members of the Constituent Assembly. As we observe the 75th day of the adoption of the Constitution of India, this is simply a infinitesimal to bespeak connected and reimagine the aboriginal of India’s parliamentary democracy.

The writer is founding Vice Chancellor of OP Jindal Global University and Dean of Jindal Global Law School. Jindal Global University has established India’s archetypal Constitution depository astatine its field successful Sonipat, Haryana.

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