A parliamentary committee is in the process of recommending mandatory declaration of business and commercial interests by MPs. It will also, reportedly, suggest that House committees on various issues do not accept MPs with business interests in those areas as members. And that the same rule applies when choosing ministers. Plus, that when the House votes, MPs who have commercial interests in the sector under consideration be barred from voting. The committee was constituted following several embarrassing, if not terribly surprising, revelations about MPs? flexible ethics. The Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, has been keen on some rules, and the committee?s report to be tabled in the Budget session deserves to be debated. An immediate reaction is that banning MPs from voting when they have a commercial interest in the sector under discussion is probably unnecessary. For one, MPs don?t really vote individually in India; it?s the party whip that counts. Most Bills are passed by voice vote anyway, making identification of individual interests for that purpose a bit of a farce. There?s an objection in theory, too. Voting in Parliament, unlike membership of select committees or even ministership, is the defining feature of being a people?s representative. That right shouldn?t be abridged.
The other proposals all sound unexceptionable. Indeed, legislatures in the US have tougher ethical requirements, making open pursuit of private commercial interests by congressmen and senators almost impossible. Certainly, there should be a record of MPs? business interests, and House committees should ideally be staffed by MPs with no personal stake in the issue. The rule about ministers? Now that?s a tough one politically for any government, especially in coalition regimes. There were plenty of questions about Dayanidhi Maran being appointed communications minister, given his family?s broadcast business. But there was little the PM could do. Maran was de facto appointed and sacked by Karunanidhi. If the rule is accepted by all political parties, it would mark a maturing of the Indian political system. Another fairly radical reform would be to make proceedings of all House committees public. Can MPs still abuse the system after all these rules? Sure, they can. But errant ones may get caught by means less troublesome than TV stings.