Parliamentary form of government in India

Published on 16 Jan 2025

Inspired by the constitution of the UK, India adopted a Parliamentary form/ Westminster form/ Cabinet form of government after independence. Articles 74 and 75 deal with the Parliamentary system at the Centre and Articles 163 and 164 deal with the states.

Feature of Parliamentary form of government

• Nominal and Real Executive: President shall be the nominal executive and is the head of the state while Prime Minister shall be the real executive who heads the government. 

• Majority party rule: The political party/ alliance that wins majority seats will form the government and rule the nation.

• Example: The NDA alliance won 353 and 336 seats in 2019 and 2014 elections respectively, thus comfortably forming the government.

• Collective responsibility: The government is collectively responsible to the Parliament in general and Lok Sabha in particular. This implies the Lok Sabha can pass a no-confidence motion to remove the government from power.

• Example: 15 No no-confidence motions were moved against the Indira Gandhi government.

• Political homogeneity: Members of the council of ministers belong to the same political party and hence there is similarity in ideology.

• Example: The 17th Lok Sabha has more than 300 BJP MPs indicating their homogeneity and solidarity in policy making.

• Double membership: Ministers are members of both legislature and executive.

• Example: In India, ministers are MPs either from Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha .

• Dissolution of the lower house: The Prime Minister can advise the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha.

• Example: Between 1991 and 2000, the Parliament was dissolved four times

• Secrecy: The President administers an oath of secrecy to the ministers, and this ensures they do not divulge information about proceedings and policies.

Reason behind adoption of Parliamentary form of government

• Familiarity with the system: British introduced Parliamentary system in India during colonial rule and continuation with the familiar system made transition to self-governance easier.

• Example: The Charter Act of 1853 laid the foundation of the Parliamentary system in India as it separated the legislative and executive functions of the Governor General’s council.

• Diversity and pluralism: Parliamentary system facilitates representation from diverse groups through a multi-party system, thus exemplifying India’s pluralism.

• Example: Around 145 members in Lok Sabha are from regional parties, indicating the scope for wider representation.

• Responsible government: The accountability provision in the Parliamentary system ensures that legislature and executive checks and balances one another.

• Example: The legislature holds the executive accountable through devices like no-confidence motion, adjournment motion, question hour, etc.

• Harmony between legislature and executive: The dual membership criteria ensures that legislature and executive are on the same side while framing policies, thus avoiding conflicts.

• Example: The NDA alliance, which has formed the government, has more than 350 seats in the Lok Sabha which makes it easy for the government to pass legislation.

How Parliamentary system enhances democracy

• Accountability: The executive is directly accountable to the legislature, and they scrutinise the government for their actions, ensuring a check on power misuse.

• Example: In the UK, the Prime Minister must be a member of the House of Commons, ensuring accountability for both the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers.

• Regular elections: Parliamentary system is ruled by people’s representatives and hence periodic elections must be conducted to express the will of the people.

• Example: Canada has a Parliamentary democracy where regular elections are held every four years to express public aspirations.

• Consensus building: The parliamentary system often results in the formation of coalitions which encourages cooperation among political parties.

• Example: Sweden has a Parliamentary system well known for multiparty coalition governments.

• Protection of minority rights: The wider representation facilitated by the Parliamentary system facilitates better representation for minorities, thus widening the scope of democracy.

• Example: Reservation of seats in India for SC, ST, and women is a measure of inclusive democracy.

• Flexibility: The Parliamentary system provides for more flexibility in governance. If the government loses the support of the majority, it can be replaced without another election if the opposition can get the majority support.

Issues in the functioning of Parliament in India

• Disruptions and adjournment: Opposition party disrupts the proceedings of the house, reducing productivity. The failure of the government to give satisfactory replies and frequent use of voice votes to escape discussions has been the major cause of protests.

• Example: Over the past 60 years, average sittings have reduced by 50% which resulted in hasty passing of bills. In 2022, discussion time for the budget was only 39 hours.

• Reducing role of Parliamentary committee: The reference made to the Parliamentary committee to analyse the bill has reduced considerably over the past few years.

• Example: As of 2021, the number of bills referred to the Parliamentary committee stands at only 11% in the 17th Lok Sabha while it was 71% in the 15th Lok Sabha.

• Criminalization of politics: An increase in the number of Parliamentarians having criminal charges against them, thus creating a scenario where lawbreakers are becoming lawmakers.

• Example: Criminal cases registered against 43% of Parliamentarians with 159 Lok Sabha MPs having serious cases against them.

• Anti-defection law: The legislation has curbed the individual voice of the Parliamentarians and made the Speaker act in a partisan manner.

• Example: MLAs were disqualified in Telangana for voting against party whip which could be seen as a move to stifle dissent within the party.

• Lack of knowledge of MPs: The technical nature of the bill reduces the scope of discussion as many political leaders have little understanding of the technical aspects.

• Poor performance of the opposition: The low strength of the opposition and lack of unity among the opposition party with no clear leader has affected constructive criticism of government policies.

• Example: The absence of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the lack of unity among the opposition parties has facilitated NDA to pass bills without much criticism.

• Increase in ordinance usage: The ease with which ordinance can be passed has made it an alternative route to legislations which undermine the power of legislature.

• Example: The 16th Lok Sabha’s first term saw ordinance route being invoked 7 times. But since 2019, the usage has reduced with no ordinance being passed in 2022.

• Low minority representation: The lower caste and women are not represented corresponding to their population.

• Example: There are only 78 elected women representatives in the Lok Sabha which is nearly 14%.

Way forward

• Lower limit for functional days: National Committee for Review of Working of Constitution has recommended fixing a certain number of days the Parliament should function.

• Empower Election Commission: The body should be given more powers like power to de-register political parties to tackle the criminalization of politics.

• Promote research support system: Facilitate more data availability to MPs to improve the quality of debates.

• Strengthen Parliamentary Committee: Increasing the terms and including more experts. Compulsorily move critical bills to the committee.

• Dinesh Goswami Committee on Anti-defection law: The disqualification is to be decided by the President and not by the Speaker.

These measures could help improve the dignity of the house and restore the prestige associated with the temple of deliberations where policies guiding the nation are being formulated.

Tags:
Polity

Keywords:
Parliamentary form of government in India parliament legislature Articles 74 article 75 article 163 aerticle 164 Loksabha

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2

Topics:
Parliament and State Legislatures