{"id":1476,"date":"2025-09-01T07:40:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T07:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/?p=1476"},"modified":"2025-09-30T08:18:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T08:18:07","slug":"current-affairs-3rd-september-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/2025\/09\/01\/current-affairs-3rd-september-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Current Affairs 3rd September 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Democracy on Mute<\/strong>
\n\u201cDebate is the lifeblood of democracy.\u201d These words by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the All India
\nSpeakers\u2019 Conference (August 2025) ring true at a time when legislatures are fast losing their deliberative character.
\nThe constitutional vision of Parliament and State Assemblies as forums for accountability, scrutiny, and reasoned
\ndialogue stands weakened. Today\u2019s reality paints a stark picture \u2014 shrinking sittings, rushed legislation, and
\neroding executive accountability \u2014 calling for urgent democratic introspection.<\/p>\n

Numbers That Tell the Story<\/strong>
\nRecent sessions reveal a structural crisis in legislative functioning:
\n\u2022 Vanishing Sittings:
\n\u2022 Latest session: 21 sittings in 32 days, but 15 Bills passed with minimal debate.
\n\u2022 18th Lok Sabha: Functioned only 29% of scheduled time, Rajya Sabha 34% (PRS Legislative Research).
\n\u2022 Question Hour Collapse:
\n\u2022 Only 8% of starred questions answered orally in Lok Sabha, 5% in Rajya Sabha.
\n\u2022 States in Decline:
\n\u2022 Average 20 sittings in 2024, down from 28 in 2017.
\n\u2022 UP & MP: Barely 16 days; Kerala (38) and Odisha (42) remain exceptions.
\n\u2022 Vacant Deputy Speaker Chairs:
\n\u2022 Lok Sabha without a Deputy Speaker since 2019; eight Assemblies follow suit \u2014 violating Article 93 spirit.
\n\u2022 Committee Role Diminished:
\n\u2022 Bills bypassing scrutiny; partisan politics infecting Standing Committees.<\/p>\n

Constitutional Compass Lost<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Article 75: Collective responsibility thrives on debate and motions.
\n\u2022 Article 93: Deputy Speaker mandate ignored for years.
\n\u2022 Founders\u2019 Vision: Nehru (1946) \u2013 Parliament must be an \u201carena of reason, not acrimony.\u201d
\n\u2022 Historic Contrast:
\n\u2022 1950s: Parliament met 120+ days annually.
\n\u2022 Today: Barely 60 days \u2014 a stark decline in deliberation.<\/p>\n

Why Are We Here?<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Executive Dominance: Rushed Bills, e.g., Farm Laws 2020, bypassing committees.
\n\u2022 Hyper-Partisan Politics: Political theatre > policy discussion.
\n\u2022 Institutional Decay: Weak Business Advisory Committees, no Deputy Speakers.
\n\u2022 Legislative Morality Erosion: Noise over nuance.<\/p>\n

The Fallout<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Zero Accountability: Question Hour turned tokenistic.
\n\u2022 Low-Quality Laws: Judicial pushback inevitable.
\n\u2022 Centralization Surge: Ordinance Raj in States.
\n\u2022 People Disillusioned: Legislatures seen as irrelevant to governance.<\/p>\n

Learning from the World<\/strong>
\n\u2022 UK: Pre-legislative scrutiny mandatory.
\n\u2022 Australia: Public submissions on major Bills.
\n\u2022 Canada: Independent Budget Office for fiscal transparency.
\n\u2022 Indian Reports:
\n\u2022 NCRWC (2001): Suggested 100 sittings for Parliament, 50 for Assemblies.
\n\u2022 RS Ethics Committee: Penalties for disruptions.<\/p>\n

Resetting the System \u2013 A Reform Agenda<\/strong>
\n1. Institutional Anchors
\n\u2022 Enforce Article 93: Time-bound election of Deputy Speakers.
\n\u2022 Fixed Calendar: 100 sittings for Parliament, 50 for Assemblies.
\n2. Revamp Committees
\n\u2022 Mandatory Scrutiny of all non-Money Bills.
\n\u2022 Live-stream sessions for transparency.<\/p>\n

3. Behavioral Detox<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Graded Penalties for Disruptions.
\n\u2022 Consensus-driven Business Committees.
\n4. Empower Debate<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Legislative Research Units for MPs\/MLAs.
\n\u2022 Publish debate participation records.
\n5. Tech for Democracy<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Digital Public Consultations on major laws.
\n\u2022 AI-based time allocation for balanced debates.
\n6. Judicial Reinforcement<\/strong>
\n\u2022 SC monitoring for Article 93 compliance.
\n\u2022 Rational limits on parliamentary privilege.<\/p>\n

Bringing Back the Soul of Parliament<\/strong>
\nThe numbers don\u2019t lie: India\u2019s legislatures are in a state of democratic deficit. If Granville Austin called the
\nConstitution \u201ca seamless web of accountability,\u201d its vitality depends on restoring debate as a rational process, not
\nritualistic drama. The way forward is a triad of institutional reform, political will, and civic engagement \u2014 to
\nreclaim Parliament and Assemblies as the living forums of reason envisaged by the framers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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