Opinion Ring in the new

Over the next decade,there are three broad areas where I think we will see some change for the better.

The first area is the performance of Parliament as an institution. When we complain about the engagement levels of MPs and sometimes their behaviour in the House,we often do not take a comprehensive look at the incentives and structural issues that appear to hamper the performance of Parliament. In an average session of Parliament about 1,400 documents are tabled on the floor of Parliament. Ostensibly,the purpose of tabling documents is for MPs to scrutinise them and raise any issues related to matters discussed in these documents. To perform this duty,how many qualified research staff do our MPs have — zero. When bills are passed in Parliament,because of the party whip system and the tight party discipline,there is no room for an MP to vote his conscience on any piece of legislation. And to add to this,Bills are passed by voice vote,and therefore no one ever knows whether an MP was present in the House even when very important bills are passed.

Given the increasing public scrutiny of Parliament and MPs,and the extent to which things appear to be broken,there will be increasing public pressure to comprehensively re-evaluate the functioning of Parliament,and make it a more effective institution of governance. Indeed,if in 2002,we as a nation felt the need to set up a committee to review the working of our Constitution,one can argue that a thorough review of Parliament will be forced in the next few years.

The second big development in our politics is the prevalence of young MPs in Parliament. The 15th Lok Sabha has over 300 first time MPs,many of them young. Despite the change in the MPs in Parliament,the politics does not seem to have changed — at least not yet. The engagement levels of young MPs in Parliament are lower than the average. Most major parties are represented in public by the old guard,with little room for the younger MPs to articulate new ideas. Young MPs are often anticipating what the party position might be,and appear to be rather keen to follow what they think might be the party line than take a chance with a position that might end up being different from the party position.

This is the second area where I expect to see change for the better in a decade. The increasing number of young MPs in future elections will force political parties to re-evaluate their reliance on the old,and make more room for the young to begin articulating positions on issues both within parties and before the people.

The third area of concern right now is that the levels of public engagement in our policy making process is abysmally low. Beyond the sensational,there is little informed discussion of politics or policy. Many existing “think tanks” appear to be more focussed on producing research output than in engaging more widely with policy makers. For a number of professionals in various walks of life,politics has been anathema all these years. But there is a growing number of young professionals who are beginning take a keen interest in policy issues. With the increasing education levels,penetration of the internet,and a re-articulation of policy priorities that will be forced over the next decade,the youth is likely to play an increasingly large role in making this happen.

Critics might point that these three areas appear more like a wish list than a prediction. But,the bottom line for our democracy is that unless these three areas (and more) do not change for the better,democracy as we know it will be in deep peril.

The writer is director,Legislative Research,New Delhi