{"id":4293,"date":"2026-10-19T10:44:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T10:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/?p=4293"},"modified":"2026-10-20T10:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T10:53:09","slug":"executive-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/executive-accountability\/","title":{"rendered":"Executive accountability"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<table style=\"font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><b>SYLLABUS: Indian Polity<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>General Studies \u2013 : II <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Parliament and State legislatures\u2014structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers &amp; privileges and issues arising out of these.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><b>IN NEWS:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Revamp functioning of Parliament<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The declining number of parliamentary sittings and disruptions in legislative proceedings raise concerns about the effectiveness of executive accountability in India. Examine<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>ANSWER: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The effectiveness of a parliamentary democracy relies directly on the legislature&#8217;s ability to hold the executive accountable under Article 75(3) of the Constitution. However, the systematic reduction in parliamentary sitting days and the frequency of disruptions have transformed the legislature from an active deliberative body into a passive ratifying agency, shifting the balance of power decisively in favor of the executive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Dimensions of the Decline in Legislative Oversight<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Evacuation of Deliberative Space:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shorter Calendars:<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The average annual sitting days of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have fallen significantly from over 120\u2013130 days in the early decades of independence to fewer than 70\u201380 days in recent years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bypassing Question Hour:<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Disruptions frequently result in the washout of Question Hour and Zero Hour, stripping MPs of the opportunity to orally cross-examine ministers on policy failures.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Marginalization of Legislative Scrutiny:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Circumvention of Committees:<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The proportion of bills referred to Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) has dropped sharply, with major economic and national security legislation passed without multi-party scrutiny.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The &#8220;Guillotine&#8221; Effect:<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Compressed session schedules force large tranches of the Union Budget to be passed without discussion or detailed cut-motion debates, diluting financial control.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Executive Dominance through Ordinances:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frequent resort to Article 123 (Ordinance-making power) allows the executive to enact laws unilaterally, reducing Parliament&#8217;s role to a post-facto approval mechanism.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Erosion of Procedural Protections:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The frequent use of the &#8220;Money Bill&#8221; route to pass contentious legislation (such as Aadhaar or Tribunal reforms) bypasses the review of the Rajya Sabha, undermining bicameral federal accountability.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Structural Causes Driving Disruptions and Shrinking Sittings<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Executive Control over the Calendar:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Unlike Westminster systems with fixed legislative calendars, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs decides session durations, keeping them flexible and brief.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Absence of Guaranteed Opposition Time:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The lack of dedicated, statutory days for the opposition to set the legislative agenda drives disruptions as the only remaining tool to capture national attention.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The Anti-Defection Trap (Tenth Schedule):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Strict party whips stifle internal dissent and backbench debate, reducing floor proceedings to rigid partisan clashes rather than nuanced deliberation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Weaponization of Disruptions:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Both ruling and opposition parties occasionally benefit from reduced scrutiny\u2014the executive avoids difficult questions, while opposition groups use tactical logjams to score short-term political points.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Path Forward and Institutional Reforms<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Statutory Minimum Sittings:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Enact a legal requirement mandating a minimum of 100 to 120 sitting days per year, as recommended by the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Institutionalizing Opposition Days:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Allocate specific days each week where the opposition dictates the debate agenda, fostering a culture of structured accountability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Mandatory Committee Referrals:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Amend rules of procedure to make pre-legislative scrutiny by DRSCs compulsory for all bills, barring exceptional emergency legislation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Empowering Presiding Officers:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Enhance the neutrality of Speakers and Chairpersons while enforcing strict decorum codes to ensure opposition grievances are heard without gridlock.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<blockquote><p><b>PYQ REFERENCE UPSC 2021<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q. &#8220;To what extent, in your view, is the Parliament able to ensure accountability of the executive in India?&#8221; (10 Marks, 150 Words)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><b>SOURCE: <a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/ccidist-ws\/th\/th_international\/issues\/209838\/OPS\/GUBGL9FPN.1+GKQGMFFKG.1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hindu epaper &#8211; Revamp functioning of Parliament<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SYLLABUS: Indian Polity General Studies \u2013 : II Parliament and State legislatures\u2014structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers &amp; privileges and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,39,25,57,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-current-affairs","category-daws","category-gs-2","category-polity","category-polity-and-governance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4295,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4293\/revisions\/4295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}