As per PRS Legislative Research reports, No Private Members Bill has been passed by Parliament since 1970.Of the 328 odd Private Members Bill introduced in the 14th Lok Sabha,only 4% were discussed; 96% were lapsed without even a single debate in the House. In the 15th Lok Sabha, nearly 600 Private Member bills were introduced but not even 5% were discussed.The story is no different in the current 16th Lok Sabha.
This is,I believe, a matter of serious concern and unhealthy practice for a parliamentary system. The notion of deliberation in our democracy has weakened. In 1956 alone, 6 Private Members bills were passed. Total 14 bills were passed between 1950 and 1970. Since 1970, not even a single Private Member bill has been passed.It is hard to digest that amongst thousands of bills introduced ,not even a single bill between 1970 and 2017 made some sense and got considered by the house.
Ignorance of Private Members Bill is a result of decline in Indian Politics. Deliberation is the root of our democracy and ignoring of bills is ignorance of new ideas. The thing here to notice is that this ignorance is not because of rivalry between the ruling party and the oppositions. The problem is that since this instrument is optional in nature, legislature and the executive take it too lightly whosoever introduces the bill. For instance, in 2014, Rights of Transgender Persons Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha by a private member .It was initially opposed by every party in the house. Raising a crucial issue which was untouched by the legislature and putting forward a bill must be appreciated in the parliamentary system. The members in Rajya Sabha,on the other hand, asked the person to withdraw the bill instead of proposing required changes. However, the bill was,later, passed by the house unanimously.
One thing is clear from these statistics that overall productivity of Indian Polity has decreased.Not only in context of private members bill but the productivity in general is on a decline. Total 331 were passed in the 1st Lok Sabha. It had come down to 149 bills in the 15th Lok Sabha.Working hours are wasted in unnecessary debates.
I agree that not all private member bills hold much significance. For instance, a bill which is aimed to amend Article 1 from "India, that is Bharat" to "Bharat, that is Hindustan" must be ignored completely. Such bills are usually introduced to gain popularity. However, ignoring bills concerned with crucial issues might not be a good sign for Deliberative Democracy.
This is,I believe, a matter of serious concern and unhealthy practice for a parliamentary system. The notion of deliberation in our democracy has weakened. In 1956 alone, 6 Private Members bills were passed. Total 14 bills were passed between 1950 and 1970. Since 1970, not even a single Private Member bill has been passed.It is hard to digest that amongst thousands of bills introduced ,not even a single bill between 1970 and 2017 made some sense and got considered by the house.
Ignorance of Private Members Bill is a result of decline in Indian Politics. Deliberation is the root of our democracy and ignoring of bills is ignorance of new ideas. The thing here to notice is that this ignorance is not because of rivalry between the ruling party and the oppositions. The problem is that since this instrument is optional in nature, legislature and the executive take it too lightly whosoever introduces the bill. For instance, in 2014, Rights of Transgender Persons Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha by a private member .It was initially opposed by every party in the house. Raising a crucial issue which was untouched by the legislature and putting forward a bill must be appreciated in the parliamentary system. The members in Rajya Sabha,on the other hand, asked the person to withdraw the bill instead of proposing required changes. However, the bill was,later, passed by the house unanimously.
One thing is clear from these statistics that overall productivity of Indian Polity has decreased.Not only in context of private members bill but the productivity in general is on a decline. Total 331 were passed in the 1st Lok Sabha. It had come down to 149 bills in the 15th Lok Sabha.Working hours are wasted in unnecessary debates.
I agree that not all private member bills hold much significance. For instance, a bill which is aimed to amend Article 1 from "India, that is Bharat" to "Bharat, that is Hindustan" must be ignored completely. Such bills are usually introduced to gain popularity. However, ignoring bills concerned with crucial issues might not be a good sign for Deliberative Democracy.
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