December 09, 2004
 

Before every session of Parliament, the Lok Sabha speaker gets the heads of the various parties together and tells the media that they have agreed not to disrupt the proceedings of the House. This is made out by the media [and the politicians] to be some great achievement. Yet, the moment the session begins, it becomes abundantly clear that neither the government nor the opposition have any interest in maintaining dignity. There is some issue or the other for the two to go at each others' throats. If it isnt the Sankaracharya's arrest, it is the the volley of allegations and abuse being hurled by two cabinet ministers in public. I cannot for the life of me understand why the opposition should be bothered about a spat between two ministers.

As usual, the proceedings of the Lok Sabha get disrupted and the media goes hammer and tongs at the members. I now wonder at the futility of live coverage of the entire proceedings given the fact that it is going to cost more than Rs. 150 crores to provide this coverage.

Who is going to foot that bill? Why should an already inefficient Doordarshan be allowed to start up another channel, which will function for at most 4 months in a year when Parliament is in session? Do we really want to waste our time watching live Parliamentary proceedings? I think I'd rather watch a cricket series between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. At least there wont be any acrimony in those games.

Labels: lok sabha, speaker