Parliamentary Oversight in India

Syllabus: Indian Polity and Governance – Parliament and State Legislatures

Source: THE HINDU

Context: Despite India adopting a parliamentary system to ensure daily executive accountability, recent trends show that Parliament’s oversight role is weakening.

• Disruptions, underutilised committees, and absence of post-legislative review have diluted Parliament’s role as the guardian of public interest.

About Parliamentary Oversight

What is Parliamentary Oversight?

• Definition: It refers to the continuous monitoring and evaluation of executive actions by the legislature, ensuring accountability, transparency, and responsiveness in governance.

• Why it Matters: In India’s parliamentary democracy, the executive is collectively responsible to the legislature. Oversight tools like Question Hour, Zero Hour, and Parliamentary Committees ensure daily and periodic checks on the government.

Constitutional and Institutional Basis

• Article 75: Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.

• Parliamentary Devices: Includes motions (adjournment, no-confidence), debates, questions, and committee reports.

• Ambedkar’s Vision: Called parliamentary democracy the system of “more responsibility, less stability”, emphasizing daily accountability through Parliament.

Challenges Undermining Oversight

• Disruption of Question Hour: The 17th Lok Sabha (2019–24) witnessed only 60% Question Hour functionality; in the Rajya Sabha, it was 52%. Frequent adjournments and protests prevent ministers from being held accountable. E.g. During the Pegasus spyware controversy (2021), repeated disruptions curtailed meaningful questions to the government. Committees Not Utilised Effectively: Standing Committees generate detailed reports, but these are rarely debated in the full House. Membership rotation every year reduces domain expertise.

• Frequent adjournments and protests prevent ministers from being held accountable.

• E.g. During the Pegasus spyware controversy (2021), repeated disruptions curtailed meaningful questions to the government.

• Committees Not Utilised Effectively: Standing Committees generate detailed reports, but these are rarely debated in the full House. Membership rotation every year reduces domain expertise.

• E.g. The Standing Committee on Environment report on pollution in Delhi (2021).

• Lack of Post-Legislative Scrutiny: No structured process exists to review the effectiveness or compliance of laws post-enactment.

• E.g. The Companies (Amendment) Act, 2013, aimed to simplify compliance but led to a surge in criminal prosecutions.

Reforms Needed for Strengthened Oversight

• Institutionalise Post-Legislative Scrutiny (PLS)

• UK Model: Government departments submit law implementation reviews after 3–5 years. India Application: A sub-committee under each DRSC could periodically review key laws like the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code or National Education Policy to ensure timely correction.

• UK Model: Government departments submit law implementation reviews after 3–5 years.

• India Application: A sub-committee under each DRSC could periodically review key laws like the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code or National Education Policy to ensure timely correction.

• Strengthen Committee Work: Translate reports into regional languages, produce infographics and short videos to enhance accessibility. Mandate floor discussions on selected committee reports.

• Translate reports into regional languages, produce infographics and short videos to enhance accessibility.

• Mandate floor discussions on selected committee reports.

• g. In 2022, the report on Data Protection Bill by the IT Committee was overlooked before the bill was withdrawn.

• Provide committees with dedicated technical staff and data analysts.

• g. The US Congress has Congressional Research Services (CRS) for non-partisan policy support — India lacks such institutional backing for MPs.

• Leverage Technology and AI: Use AI to track anomalies in budget allocations, scheme implementation, and audit trends. g. A digital tool could have flagged misutilisation in PM-Kisan, where ineligible farmers received benefits due to data mismatch, helping MPs raise early alarms.

• Use AI to track anomalies in budget allocations, scheme implementation, and audit trends. g. A digital tool could have flagged misutilisation in PM-Kisan, where ineligible farmers received benefits due to data mismatch, helping MPs raise early alarms.

• g. A digital tool could have flagged misutilisation in PM-Kisan, where ineligible farmers received benefits due to data mismatch, helping MPs raise early alarms.

Way Forward

• Launch a Parliamentary Modernisation Scheme with investment in digital tools, research wings, and multilingual dissemination.

• Promote cross-party consensus to ensure smooth functioning during Question Hour and legislative business.

• Foster citizen participation through public feedback portals for bills and committee reports.

• Encourage state legislatures to adopt DRSCs, creating a federal oversight ecosystem.

Conclusion

As K.R. Narayanan said in 1993, oversight is not to criticise, but to support better governance. Strengthening Parliament’s scrutiny function is essential to revive public trust, uphold constitutional checks, and deliver on the promise of “government accountable to the people.”

• Explain the structure of the Parliamentary Committee system. How far have the financial committees helped in the institutionalization of Indian Parliament? (UPSC 2023)