The government often points out that India is "the mother of democracy". However, one of its democratic institutions appears to be failing in the discharge of its duties: the Parliament.
The BJP-led Centre has continued its attack on the Opposition, especially the Congress, whose MP Rahul Gandhi was disqualified after his conviction in a defamation case. Meanwhile, the Opposition has lamented corruption in democratic institutions and values of the country, demanding a probe into the Adani row.
Amid the tug of war between the two sides, bills have been introduced in the Houses of Parliament and a few have even been passed with no discussion, as the Houses remain unable to function for more than a few minutes. Frequent adjournements, too, have exacerbated their poor productivity. In view of the same, we take a look at some of the bills that have been passed without debate.
Bills passed sans discussion
The Parliament's productivity has been dismal in this year's Budget session: a mere three Bills have been introduced and only two of them have been passed, that too without discussion. Both bills passed were introduced by the Ministry of Finance. The Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023 was introduced by the Ministry of Defence but is yet to get the Houses' attention. Let's take a look.
- The Finance Bill
The Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Finance Bill 2023 with 64 official amendments without any discussion.
The amendments include one that seeks withdrawal of long-term tax benefits on certain categories of debt mutual funds and another for setting up the GST Appelate Tribunal. The Finance Bill gives effect to tax proposals for the fiscal year starting April 1.
While moving the bill for passage and consideration, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced the setting up of a committee under the finance secretary to look into pension issues of government employees. The Bill will now go to Rajya Sabha for consideration and passage.
- Demand for Grants and the Appropriation Bill, 2023
The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Demands for Grants for Budget 2023-24 and the Appropriation Bill by a voice vote without any discussion. The Union Budget 2023-24, presented by FM Sitharaman on February 1, which envisages a total expenditure of Rs 45.03 lakh crore for the financial year beginning April 1, was thereby passed without a discussion.
An Appropriation Bill empowers the government to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Fund of India to use during the fiscal year to meet its expenses including public spending and repayment of debts etc.
The Opposition has not taken well to this move, with former finance minister P Chidambaram calling it the end of democracy. "The worst message from a parliamentary democracy is to approve a Budget without discussion. Rs 45,03,097 crore will be raised and spent for the 'people' in 2023-24 without the people's representatives offering their views on the Budget," he said.