Make 100 Parliament sittings mandatory: Yechury

Asserting that efficiency of Indian Parliament depends to a large extent on the duration and proper conduct of parliamentary proceedings, Communist Party of India-Marxist on Sunday demanded constitutional amendment making 100 sittings a year mandatory.

CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said this while regretting the fact that during the last two decades the Parliament never sat for more than 100 days in a year while the British Parliament on the other hand sits for at least 160 days a year.

"We seriously consider, through a Constitutional amendment, if necessary, making it mandatory for 100 sittings a year. I think, that is necessary as a corrective step for the future," he said participating in a debate on 60 years of Indian Parliament.

He said the closest the Parliament sat for 100 days was in 1992 with 98 sittings.

The 14th Lok Sabha, Yechury observed, was marked by the least in the Parliament history with 332 sittings with an average of 66 a year. "Worst, 24 per cent of this time was lost due to disruptions and adjournments," he said.

He held that unless the Parliament sits for a longer duration, its vigilance over the Government will not be effective.

"Thus, the executive's accountability to the legislature becomes the casualty. This seriously undermines our Constitutional scheme of things and endanger authoritarian tendency," he underscored.

Drawing attention to the role of judiciary as being the interpreter of the Constitution, the law and the custodian of the rights of the citizens, he stressed that the system of delivery of justice needs to be urgently beefed up.