The cliché about India being a study in contrasts extends, unfortunately, also to the two Houses of Parliament. This was evident last week in the course of the proceedings of the two Houses, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. The timing was significant, since out on the streets of Delhi the authority and the supremacy of Parliament as the sole legislative body was being challenged by an agitation propelled by a group of irresponsible people. The Upper House, true to the best traditions of parliamentary democracy, concerned itself with the impeachment of a former judge. Again, true to parliamentary traditions, the Rajya Sabha heard some good speeches. The Lok Sabha, in contrast, chose to spend its precious time in bandying words about a street-level agitation. The members endowed the protest with a dignity it does not deserve. The occasion, in fact, had presented a golden opportunity to members of the Lok Sabha to unitedly uphold the dignity and position of Parliament. By failing to do this, they undermined the very processes of parliamentary democracy.

It is undeniable that what goes by the epithet Lower House is actually an assembly of those who are directly elected by the people and is therefore the more important and the more powerful House. It is equally true that over the last few years, the Lok Sabha has failed to live up to the dignity that the Constitution assigns to it. It faces frequent disruptions; it is witness to unruly behaviour by members. All this results in a colossal waste of time and prevents the Lok Sabha from carrying out its real business. Parliamentary conventions are much better observed and respected in the House of Elders in India than they are in the Lower House. The level of debate and the intellectual content of the speeches in the Rajya Sabha are also superior.

This experience suggests a conclusion that should not be dismissed because it sounds heretical. It is possible that India, given its vast disparities of education and intellectual awareness, is not yet quite prepared for the direct, and therefore purer, election of the representatives of the people. The members of the Rajya Sabha, perhaps because they are not directly elected, have greater maturity and gravitas. It is a pity, of course, that after more than five decades the quality of the members in the Lok Sabha has in fact declined. The deepening of democracy may not have benefited Parliament, the principal forum of democracy.