Minority report

The backlog of important legislation in Parliament has become a staple of media reporting when every session begins and ends. Most of this is attributed to regular disruptions and walk-outs by opposition parties. But a quick scan of parliamentary questions suggests that MPs themselves are not so cognisant of the urgency of Parliamentary work either. Many think little of raising minor issues that nevertheless require to be answered, taking up the bureaucracy's time. For instance, in the last session of Parliament, a Congress MP from Kerala asked whether the government proposed minority status for those who practised the Jain religion. The brief answer from the minister of minority affairs was that the proposal was under "active consideration".