Does your MP value your vote?

By M H Ahssan

Does your MP attend Parliament? Does he/she ask questions in the House? Does he/she participate in debates? Between them, the answers to these questions should provide you the bare bones of how effectively your MP carries out core functions. Here’s what we found on examining the data.

Statistics show that nearly one-tenth of MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha have never participated in any debate, while the names of another one-third figure in less than 10 debates in data of the first 13 sessions.

Here, we are treating all discussions other than those under Rule 377 — which we consider separately in the accompanying piece — as debates. On average, a member of this LS has participated 24 times in debates held in the last four and half years. Ministers are excluded in these calculations.

Samajwadi Party’s Shailendra Kumar leads with 312 entries against his name, followed by Basudeb Barman, Ram Kripal Yadav, Bhartruhari Mahtab and Varkala Radhakrishnan.

With 60 participations per MP, Kerala leads the major states plus Delhi list. Delhi is second with 52 debates per member, while with 47 per head, Orissa MPs are the third most active lot. With less than 15 per MP, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Haryana are at the bottom of the list.

Among major parties, CPI emerges best with an average of 58 entries per MP. BJD at 55 and CPM at 41 are the next best. The NCP performed worst with an average of only 2 per MP. As for questions, 78 members did not ask a single question in the first 13 sessions. Another 167 asked fewer than 10 each.

Averaging at 453 questions per MP, Shiv Sena is at the top of the party list, BJD’s next with 291 just ahead of CPI with 290. Averaging 118, 104 and 34 respectively the BSP, CPM and Akalis make up the bottom three of the list.

Abu Ayes Mondal’s 97% attendance makes him top the attendance list for full-term MPs, while ailing former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee is at the bottom. The overall average attendance of the House for the first 14 sessions was 68.8%. Attendance need not mean actual presence in the House through the day. It only means the MP has come to the House and signed his presence. Thus, BJP averaged 90% in the first session, which the party had boycotted.

Has your MP kept the promise of demanding stoppage of a s uperfast train at your station? Has he raised the issue of improving the condition of sick sugar mills and reconstitution of local cooperatives? Has he drawn the House’s attention to the declining handloom industry in your area? You can hold your MP to account by accessing the data available on the Lok Sabha (LS) website, which unfortunately shows that nearly one-third of MPs never raise these issues.

The Parliament provides provision to raise matters of general public interest that can’t be raised during question hour, ‘calling attention’ motions and resolutions. Under Rule 377, LS members can raise matters that weren’t raised during the same session under any other rule, which can be local but primarily concerned with the central government.

For the first 13 sessions of the ongoing LS, there are 3,326 entries under Rule 377. Excluding ministers, the entries reduce to 3,200 against 348 members. That means 166 MPs never raised any issue under this rule. Apart from them, another 224 members have less than 10 entries under 377. Simply put, most have only occasionally used the provision. With 52 entries against his name, S K Kharventhan tops the list while Virjibhai Thummar, NSV Chitthan, Rajnarayan Budholiya and Karan Singh Yadav are the others who figured in ‘best five’ for raising issues under Rule 377.

Averaging at 15 entries per member, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal top the list of major states, while MPs from Punjab and Haryana averaged just 3 entries per MP. Averaging 8 entries per member, the RJD, CPI and Congress are the three best parties here. The Akali Dal is the worst, as its average member has raised local issues only twice in the 13 sessions so far.

Every Lok Sabha member is entitled to receive Rs 2 crore annually, under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). MPs can allocate the money for developmental needs of their constituencies. Data shows that only 6% of MPs have spent less than 80% of their fund.

All five figuring at the bottom of this list are from Bihar. Meira Kumar at 52% shows up worst, while Uday Singh, Rajesh Kumar Manjhi and Ranjeeta Ranjan failed to spend even 60% of the fund.