Has the thrust of government tilted towards executive in contemporary Indian Politics? Give your arguments. (UPSC CSE Mains 2020 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
- There has been recent accusations over the hastily passing of bills in the parliament, without any proper discussion, one example being the farm laws. Activists have complained that the Parliament has been reduced to a site for procedural formalities, and the Lok Sabha appears to be an extension of the executive, rather than a mechanism for its accountability.
- This tendency is due to the executive having a majority in the legislature which has made it easy to pass laws with the appropriate majority. But there are a few inherent ways that overpower the executive. For instance; the executive can pass important legislations through the Money bill route or even use the route of the ordinance. Recently Aadhar Act was passed like this to bypass the scrutiny of Upper House.
- Moreover, the low ratio of the passage of Private members’ bills also points towards the tilt. In Recent times, important policy decisions were taken without discussing them in Parliament, the most crucial being the announcement of demonetization.
- This truncation of the role of Parliament in the face of single-party dominance is further facilitated by the poor understanding of the role of the parliamentary opposition in Indian politics. Once the competition for people’s votes is over, it goes, the losers should step aside, respect the democratic mandate, and let the government do its job. The opposition may question the government like ordinary citizens, or prepare for the next election, but should not meddle in governance.
- Various such factors have contributed to the tilt towards executives in contemporary Indian politics.
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