To what extent, in your view, the parliament is able to ensure accountability of the executive in India?

Article 75 of the constitution calls for the Council of Ministers to be collectively responsible to the House of the People (Lok Sabha). This ensures that the executive is responsible to the Parliament for its policies and acts through different instruments like Question hour, Zero Hour, No Confidence Motion etc.

Effectiveness of these instruments:

● Parliament has the unlimited power to call for information, to discuss, to scrutinize and to put the seal of approval on the proposals made by the Executive. Defence Minister has been questioned in Parliament to answer during Chinese aggression in Galwan valley.

● The Executive (i.e., the political Executive the Council of Ministers) remains responsible and the administration accountable to Parliament. It is the function of Parliament to exercise political and financial control over the Executive and to ensure parliamentary surveillance of administration.

● Significant occasions of accountability are also provided by the discussions on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, the Budget demands and particular aspects of governmental policy or situations.

● The executives have been suspended by the Speaker and Chairman for creating ruckus in house.

Recent trends of reducing effectiveness:

● Question hour was held in the 16th Lok Sabha for 77 percent of the allocated time, while it was held in the Rajya Sabha for 47 percent.

● Tendencies to use ordinance route, money bill route (Aadhar bill), etc. is increasing.

● Bypassing the parliamentary standing committee- 71% of the bills went to parliamentary committees between 2009 and 2014, and this dipped to only 25% between 2014 and 2019.

Way Forward.

● The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution has recommended that Lok Sabha should have at least 120 sittings in a year, while Rajya Sabha should have 100 sittings.

● In countries such as Sweden and Finland, all bills are sent to committees. Perhaps it is time for India to impose a similar criterion in order to reap the benefits of the committee system.

● Following the Vice President's 15-point reform plan for better Parliamentary functioning.

In a parliamentary polity, Parliament embodies the will of the people and it must, therefore, be able to oversee the way in which public policy is carried out so as to ensure that it keeps in step with the objectives of socio-economic progress, efficient administration and the aspirations of the people as a whole.

EXTRA NOTES-

Recent trends of reducing effectiveness:

● Financial bodies such as the Public Accounts Committee only do post-facto audits, which means they analyse expenditures after they have occurred.

● The emergence of "delegated legislation" has hampered Parliament's ability to adopt comprehensive laws while strengthening bureaucratic power.

Way Forward

● The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution has recommended that Lok Sabha should have at least 120 sittings in a year, while Rajya Sabha should have 100 sittings.
● In countries such as Sweden and Finland, all bills are sent to committees. Perhaps it is time for India to impose a similar criterion in order to reap the benefits of the committee system.
● Following the Vice President's 15-point reform plan for better Parliamentary functioning.