Changing Role of Elected Representatives and its Implications for Legislative Institutions

Bangalore | Thursday, December 29, 2011 |

100

120

140

160

20

40

60

80

0 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 LS 1979 1982 RS 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009

Parliament meets for fewer days

There has been a decline in the no. of bills passed

Number of Bills passed per year

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

PRS Legislative Research

Bills are passed without debate

Total Bills passed Budget 2009 (26 days)

100%

3 Bills

Winter 2009 (21 days)

13%

7%

27%

53%

15 Bills

Budget 2010 (17 days)1

55%

45%

11 Bills

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

1. Parliament sittings post recess only

27% Bills in the 14th Lok Sabha were passed in less than 30 min

Time taken to discuss a Bill, analysis over five years (14th Lok Sabha)
> 3 hours 14% < 30 min 27%

2-3 hours 17%

30 min - 1 hour 16% 1-2 hours 26%

PRS Legislative Research

MPs get paid a lot of money

2010

32 Flight Tickets
16,000

Free Phone Calls Free Electricity

2006

12,000
2001

Free Housing

100%

10% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

20%

30%

40%

0% 25th Feb08 4th Mar08 14th Mar08 17th Apr08 28th Apr08 17th Oct08 10th Dec08 18th Dec08 16th Feb09 25th Feb09 5th Jun09 7th Jul09 15th Jul09 23rd Jul09 31st Jul09 20th Nov09 1st Dec09 9th Dec09 17th Dec09 26th Feb10 10th Mar10 16th Apr10 26th Apr10 4th May10

Do they attend Parliament ?

14 Lok Sabha 15 Lok Sabha

How educated are our MPs ?

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1952 1962 1971 1980 1989 1996 1999 2009

Under Matriculates

Matriculates/ Hr. Sec

Graduates

Post Graduates

Doctoral degree

What do Voters ask

Did you fix my street? I did not see you after the last election What did you do for the constituency? Can you help my son get a job? You did not help my daughter get a transfer

Role of an MP
Make Laws Oversee the working of the government Scrutinize and approve the budget Represent the voters

MPs get ~ 1400 documents per session

Papers laid on the table by the Government - 14th Lok Sabha
3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Session

State Assemblies sit for fewer days compared to Lok Sabha

PRS Legislative Research

12

Support to MPs
No research staff No office space Many political parties do not have strong internal research capacity

About PRS Legislative Research

Building a high impact institution to strengthen the worlds largest democracy

www.prsindia.org

PRS Context
No MP can be an expert on the wide range of subjects that come up in Parliament No qualified research staff available for individual MPs No comprehensive online resource about legislatures and legislators Poor processes for law making at the state level Citizens need to know about the work of their MPs and Parliament Citizens need to actively engage with their MPs and the policy making process PRS Legislative Research was established in 2005 to address these issues

Mission PRS Legislative Research seeks to strengthen the legislative process by making it better informed, more transparent and participatory.

PRS Impact
~300 MPs from across political parties use PRS support Over 200 MLAs from 16 states have engaged in policy workshops In 2010, ~ 400 newspaper citations of data and analysis provided by PRS 800 journalists across the country trained in tracking the work of legislatures and legislators Interactions with civil society groups to expand their knowledge of important legislations such as the Right to Education Bill, the Lokpal Bill, and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 1000 unique visitors per day on PRS website during Parliament sessions Conceptualised and developed the largest national online database of over 3700 laws from 27 states 6000 followers on Twitter; 2000 on Facebook

PRS Legislative Research

Building a high impact institution to strengthen the worlds largest democracy

www.prsindia.org |Facebook: PRS Legislative Research |Twitter: @PRSLegislative