People of India are "not happy" with the functioning of Parliament and State Assemblies, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Venkaiah Naidu lamented here on Monday.
Inaugurating the two-day 16th All India Whips Conference in a resort in Goa, Naidu said that a major issue was the erosion of the credibility of Parliament due to criminalisation of politics as well as other issues.
"Public perception about the functioning of our Parliament and State legislatures is a matter of serious concern. Credibility of these vital institutions is eroding for various reasons including criminalisation of politics, rise of money power, declining numbers of sittings of the August houses, repeated disruptions and adjournments, questionable conduct of some legislators inside and outside the Houses, etc," Naidu said.
"…the chief patrons of democracy, the people are in general not happy and upbeat about the way our legislatures are functioning over the years," Naidu added.
He, however, did not hesitate to praise the Prime Minister saying that a "new sense of hope and enthusiasm" had come after Narendra Modi has become Prime Minister.
He said that the situation needed to change which made the role of political whips crucial.
"This cannot go on like this, it is time we strive for a change (in) the way we operate our sacred institutions of democracy," he said.
Naidu said that "frequent disruptions and forced adjournments" which left the House without transacting business days on end, was unhealthy for democracy.
"It is depressing to see that disruption of such an important window of parliamentary oversight has come to become a 'routine way of political expression'. This has serious implications," he said adding that even the question hour which ensures accountability of permanent executive was repeatedly disrupted.
He has suggested that Parliament should have a minimum stipulated number of sittings per year.
"So I suggest that this conference should consider stipulating a minimum of 40 sittings per year in case of small states and 70, in case of other states and a minimum of 100 days per year for Parliament," he said.
He also raised the issue of inadequacy of education and training in operational mechanics and the working procedures of modern parliamentary institutions.
The Union Ministry also asked lawmakers to debate the issue of privileges accorded to Parliament which were in the process of being codified.
The conference aims to find a way to enhance the credibility of legislators and the legislatures, enable quality debates through necessary empowerment besides seeking to address the concerns being widely voiced in respect of privileges and code of conduct of members, among other issues.