Partisanship in House committees

The injection of bitterness and visceral antagonism in politics in recent years has vitiated the atmosphere of Parliamentary committees in recent years

The objective behind the setting up Parliamentary committees was laudable. Away from the din and noise of regular sessions of the two Houses, where members both from the treasury benches and Opposition indulge in grandstanding with keep an eye on the media galleries, Parliamentary committees were expected to examine issues threadbare in a dispassionate manner uninformed by partisan considerations. It was thus that increasingly key legislations were remitted to Joint Parliamentary Committees attached to various ministries for granular examination and for recommending changes, if any. Given that the sittings of the two Houses over the years have been drastically cut, the joint committees' members drawn from various parties as per their numbers in each House were expected to scrutinise legislation in greater detail. Naturally, the ruling party would have more members since it enjoyed majority in the Lok Sabha. These committees met when the parliament was in session and also during the inter-session periods. In short, time was not a constraint for the functioning of the Parliamentary committees. Unfortunately, the injection of bitterness and visceral antagonism in politics in recent years has so vitiated the atmosphere of Parliamentary committees that these too have become a veritable battleground for members to exercise their lung power and try and drown out the voice of fellow members and even of the presiding officer.