The Government must ensure that the Upper House functions smoothly by accommodating the Opposition's point of view

It looks like the ongoing Monsoon session of Rajya Sabha is going to be a total washout. Two weeks after it started on July 18, it is yet to pass a bill and its productivity is just 16% so far.With ruckus dominating the proceedings there is hardly any meaningful activity taking place in the Upper house. The 23 members from various opposition parties have been suspended and still, there is no guarantee that the house would be able to conduct its usual business. In his remark, M Venkaiah Naidu expressed his disappointment saying that obstruction of proceeding in the house tantamounts to the destruction of parliamentary democracy. Indeed continuous adjournments, interruptions, and slogan shouting has lowered the dignity of the house. During the 10 sittings, the Rajya Sabha functioned for 11 hours 8 minutes which is just over an hour in a session. The important bills could not be discussed like the Weapons of Mass Destruction Bill. There were No Zero Hour submissions and no Question Hour on six days during the first two weeks.

It is indeed a wastage of exchequer’s money. The Chairman of the Upper House Naidu has said, the effective functioning of parliament is a collective responsibility of the government and the Opposition. The chairman has made apt remarks and indeed ensuring the smooth functioning of the house is the responsibility of both the government and the opposition. But the government must own the larger share of responsibility to ensure the functioning of the house by allowing opposition more room and by giving it full opportunity to speak up. After all, the opposition is only trying to take up the people's issues like price rise, unemployment, and the like. The government should be more forthcoming and give it a patient hearing and reply to pacify their genuine concerns. But that is not happening. On several occasions, we see that the opposition does not get the chance to have a debate on its chosen issues. The chair unfortunately often sides with the government and wants to avoid the debate that the government is uncomfortable with. In this situation, the opposition does not have much choice; either it could play a shouting match or walk out in both situations it is the government wins. The democracy loses. If after the suspension of 23 opposition members bills are passed in their absence it would not be a fair debate but a sham.