Editorial 1: The Old in the New: What the Sengol represents
Recent Context:
- Recently, India’s new parliament building was inaugurated by the Indian Prime minister with the installation of Sengol which was boycotted by some opposition political parties as a protest.
- While supporting it government has laid down certain arguments in favor of it.
What the Sengol represents: A blend of Modernity with ancient tradition
- A sacred Sengol was given to former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru by a Shaivite Mutt from Tamil Nadu to symbolize India’s freedom in 1947.
- It represents the true meaning of Hind Swaraj, or self-rule and deep sense of understanding of Bharat.
- It’s installation in India’s new Parliament, reminding incumbent governments of their duty to govern with righteousness.
- In India’s Amrit Kaal, it will also serve as a symbol that connects India’s ancient traditions with modernity.
Steps taken by Indian government in ensuing the modernisation with roots in the ancient India
- Years of colonial rule and grip of Western ideas and ideologies had made respect for Indian traditions a matter of inferiority.
- A large section began to see India from the Western lens, which perceived the country’s traditions as a sign of backwardness.
- In current scenario. New India wears the traditions of ancient India on their sleeves. This is because Indian traditions, way of life and philosophy were embraced by government.
- India’s rich heritage of Buddhism too found pride of place under the government with the Buddhist pilgrimage circuit being developed and promoted.
- Government addressed the World Islamic Sufi Conference in 2016. He has made regular efforts to showcase Indian Islamic art and culture before the global community as part of which he took former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the Sidi Saiyyed Mosque in Ahmedabad. He gifted a replica of the Cheraman Masjid to the Saudi king Salman bin Abdulaziz in 2016.
- A sizable chunk of tourism in India has always been related to religion, but it is now that we have begun harnessing its full potential by focusing on tourism with trade. As one of the world’s oldest surviving cities, Kashi today is thriving.
- The city now has improved roads, waste management and power connections. In 2022, the tourist footfall in Kashi stood at a whopping Rs 7.3 crore. As a result, when Varanasi hosted its own investors’ summit, the tourism sector alone attracted investment proposals worth Rs 11,500 crore.
- The Special focus on the promotion of tribal art and culture. The thought again isn’t just using these art forms as props but to create a market for traditional art forms.
- From gifting Rajasthan’s Koftgiri craft work to Rogan paintings of Gujarat, Gond paintings of Madhya Pradesh, and Dokra art pieces crafted by artists in Chhattisgarh, to foreign dignitaries, PM Modi has created awareness about these art forms.
The idea of Atmanirbharta to Atmanirbhar Barat :
- The clarion call for an Atmanibhar Bharat, which found its genesis in the Covid pandemic, is one of the finest examples of tapping resurgent India’s potential and prowess. But Atmanirbharta is not merely an economic idea.
- India has historically been a centre for innovation and intellectual accomplishment. Be it governance, spiritual thinking, education or industry, India was a hub of innovations and wisdom. But colonisation and invasions disrupted this civilisational progression.
- Even when the British left India, a large section of Indians continued to think and behave like the benign subjects of a crown. Our educational framework contributed towards the perpetuation of this mindset.
- Atmanirbharta and the National Education Policy, 2020, are now acting as the key to reinstiling pride, rekindling Indic thoughts and reinvigorating creative enterprise. These policies are together expanding the room for debates, discussions and dissent — all in the moral realm of democratic societies.
Conclusion:
- Indians today are becoming conscious buyers. They are asking if what they are buying is “Made in India”. This is not just a change of consumer behaviour.
- But a sign that Indians have regained faith in Indianness. The recent commitment of government to ensure an Indian Renaissance. The Sengol being given its rightful place in Parliament is a sign that India is on course to get its rightful place on the world stage.
Editorial 2: The new Parliament House: More than a building
Recent Context:
- The opening of the impressive new Parliament building is indeed a historic event and intended to mark the foundation of India’s glorious future.
- On deeper introspection, it really matters little whether the President was invited or not, whether the Prime Minister was correct in opening the new building or whether the “Sengol” was the right symbol to adopt or signify the beginning of a new phase.
The Major concern related to Parliament
- Deterioration in the functioning of Parliament and its increasing irrelevance:
- Decadal data furnished by PRS Legislative Research shows a startling reduction in the average of annual sitting days.
- From a high of 127 days during 1952-1960, it dropped to 77 days for 1991-2000 and to 64 days in 2011-20. The average for the last two years is 58 days.
- The 15th Lok Sabha (2009-2014) was scheduled to sit for 606 days but the actual sitting was just 357 days with 51 per cent of time lost due to adjournments. The 16th Lok Sabha (2014-2019) had a scheduled sitting of just 337 days over a five-year period and lost 16 per cent of that time due to adjournments.
- In session after session, even before 2014, proceedings have been stalled by shouting and, even worse, by entering into the well of the house, tearing up legislative bills and similar disruptive antics.
- There are many times has the nation witnessed the lack of proper debate on any important bill or a current issue of national importance.
- It is equally the duty of the Speaker to permit the Opposition to raise and discuss matters of national importance, even if they are not to the liking of the ruling majority. As is oft-repeated, the Opposition must have its say and the ruling majority must have its way.
Increasing Delegation of Power:
- The great danger today is the overarching shadow that the executive has come to cast in the governance of the country.
- In several enactments, extensive powers have been handed over to the bureaucracy and the nation is now governed more by rules, notifications, circulars and guidelines than by carefully drafted and debated Acts of Parliament.
- It is an elementary principle of constitutional law that essential functions of Parliament cannot be delegated. But that is exactly what is happening on a daily basis. In 1923, Lord Hewart bitterly criticised the excessive role of the bureaucracy in governing the nation in his seminal book, The New Despotism. This led to the formation of the Donoughmore Committee and the eventual growth of administrative law and a system of checks and balances.
- In 2023, a century later, India faces the same problem with little being done to restore Parliament’s primacy as the law-making body.
Limiting the Role of opposition in checking the government:
- The ruling party has also played a significant part in downgrading the role of Parliament. Article 110 requires that money bills must contain only provisions that relate to fiscal and tax issues.
- A money bill needs approval only in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha has a limited, recommendatory role.
- The healthy practice of referring bills to parliamentary committees has dropped sharply in the recent past — from a high of 60 per cent to just 23 per cent in the current Lok Sabha. Another regrettable practice is to introduce the Finance Bill on Budget day.
- These clauses are debated in the Budget session. On the final day when this Bill is to be passed, several important clauses are added and passed by Parliament without any discussion or debate.
- Similarly, the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 is a verbatim reproduction of an earlier ordinance that was struck down by the Supreme Court and was passed without any debate.
- It is also unfortunate that the mandatory requirement under Article 93 of having a Deputy Speaker has not been fulfilled in the present Lok Sabha. Unfortunately, the entry of journalists into Parliament has been curtailed.
Conclusion:
- The constitutional role of our Parliament is to deliberate and enact laws that will guide the destiny of this great nation.
- A healthy Parliament is the bedrock of the rule of law. It is a great tragedy that our destiny is increasingly shaped by bypassing Parliament. The short-term benefits of instant executive solutions will soon result in a magnificent building but a poor Parliament.
- Every member of the Parliament has to take an oath under the Third Schedule of the Constitution, which requires them to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India. The greatness of an institution like Parliament is determined by the manner in which their occupants discharge their constitutional obligations.
- Metaphorically, the new Parliament is just an expensive hardware; the software lies in its functioning and the observance of rules and conventions