Members of Parliament (MPs) should be accountable to the people. But how do we make sure they do the job we’ve given them?
A great first step would be if they promised to attend Parliament regularly, starting with the first sitting of the 16th Lok Sabha on 4 June.
Over the years, we have watched with dismay as Parliament’s productivity and performance has declined. Important legislations have lapsed or have been passed with little debate. In fact, the last 5 years have been the least productive in the history of India!
But we now have a great opportunity to change this. With the newly elected MPs assuming office, we can make a start towards better political accountability by asking them to make a simple promise.
That’s why we’re asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior leaders such as Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Smriti Irani, Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath, Shashi Tharoor, M Thambidurai, Sudip Bandopadhyay, Dinesh Trivedi and Jay Panda to lead the way by promising 75% attendance in parliament.
There are many reforms that are needed such as increasing the number of sittings in Parliament, keeping a record of MPs’ voice-votes, and ensuring that legislations are debated thoroughly.
But these cannot happen if MPs do not even attend parliament regularly.
A promise of 75% attendance will be a great first step towards better accountability. Although Cabinet Ministers are exempt from having to record their attendance, a promise from them will signal their commitment to greater accountability.
If lakhs of people sign this petition, then our MPs will know that their voters want them to make this promise.
Attendance is mandatory in schools, colleges and workplaces. Why shouldn’t the same rule apply to our MPs as well?
Sign the petition and share it with your friends.
Anjali Bhardwaj & Amrit Johri
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