Majority is not always right:
The constitutional power for promulgating ordinances must be used only in exceptional circumstances, when Parliament is not in Session. And, every ordinance has to be ratified by Parliament immediately in its next Session.
The BJP-led NDA government has been misusing this provision. Instead of walking the extra mile to build a consensus in the Upper House of Parliament, it resorted to the ordinance route, almost immediately after the Session ended.
It smacks of a very high-handed and arrogant attitude where the government is essentially telling those who have an alternative point of view, “it is my way or the highway.” This is not how parliamentary systems function.
It is true that the government has a majority in the Lower House of Parliament. But, it is not always true that the majority view is essentially correct. In democracy, the minority view should also filter into the law-making process.
It, therefore, becomes imperative that the government gets off the high horse of arrogance and starts following parliamentary procedure, i.e. to introduce a legislative proposal in either House of Parliament, which is then scrutinised by the appropriate standing committee before Parliament finally passes it into law.
Using the ordinance route only betrays the authoritarian and fascist tendencies which are intrinsic to the DNA of the NDA government. This holds a very dangerous portent for democracy.
It is also a dangerous trend to convene a joint session of Parliament and get all the contentious ordinances approved by it, just to bypass the Rajya Sabha with an intention to denigrate the prestige of the Upper House.
It is not only the numbers that are important to run Parliament. More than anything else, it is the consensus and consultation among all parties that should prevail. It is the duty of the government to convince the parties about its good intentions in bringing a Bill before the House.
But, simply as some parties are opposing the Bills, the government cannot brand them as “anti-development”. After all, we are living in a democracy. . There are genuine reasons behind opposing the Bills, as also for supporting supporting them. Manish Tiwari, Former Union Minister in UPA
We had no other option:
Before I offer my views on the issue, let me quote what President Pranab Mukherjee observed very recently. He said, “When Parliament fails in discharging its law-making... it breaches the trust reposed in it by the people. This is not good for democracy...Dissent is a recognised democratic expression, but disruption leads to loss of time and resources, and paralyses policy formulation...In parliamentary democracy, the majority has the mandate to rule while the Opposition has the right to oppose, expose.. But, under no circumstances should there be disruption. A noisy minority cannot be allowed to gag a patient majority.”
The government has every right to issue ordinances whenever it feels it is necessary. We have only exercised the option like many governments in the past had. A total of 637 ordinances were issued during the last 62 years. This works out to 11 ordinances per year. Of the total, 456 ordinances were issued during the Congress rule of about 50 years.
Even the first PM Jawaharlal Nehru got 70 ordinances. Indira Gandhi got 77 ordinances issued during 1971-77 at the rate of three every two months. Rajiv Gandhi was responsible for 35 ordinances. Even P.V. Narasimha Rao got 77 ordinances issued. The CPM which is now opposing the ordinances was silent when the short-lived United Front government issued 77 ordinances during 1996-98.
We have no intention of misusing the Constitutional provisions. But, we had to issue them when we were left with no option, that too on issues concerning public interest. For example, the land acquisition ordinance is to make acquiring land easier. The coal mines ordinance was necessary to enable the e-auction.
The Congress and other parties can grill the government on other issues, but should enable us to pass important proposals. We are willing to sit with the Opposition. The Congress should keep in mind that creating obstructions while in the Opposition and saying something else while in government is not proper. After all others can also play the game. I have always said, the ruling party proposes, let the House discuss, debate and decide but not disrupt. M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister for Urban Development
