GS2 · 10 marks · 150 words

Since Independence, the composition of the Indian Parliament has undergone a significant change with the changing socio-economic profile of the Members of Parliament(MPs). Analyse the impact of this shift on the overall quality of representative democracy in India.

Answered by 3 toppers · CSE 2023–2025

ParliamentElections and Representation

Syllabus: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

How toppers approached it

From all 3 answers · about 190 words · 67% drew a diagram.

Opening

  • No separate opening2 of 3
  • A constitutional or legal provision1 of 3

Body

  • Points and prose2 of 3
  • Points1 of 3

Close

  • No separate close1 of 3
  • A quotation1 of 3
  • A way forward1 of 3

The toppers’ answers

Pakshal SecretryAIR 8 · CSE 2025 · 155 wordsTheir whole copy

Opening

Recently PRS released a report on socio-economic profile of MPs.

Body · points and prose

Profile

  1. Rise of criminal MPs - with changes (46% in 18th LS)
  2. Rise of Money power (93% are crorepati)
  3. Rise of women → 14% (vs 4% at independence)
  4. Decline of young MPs (25 to 29 years)
Diagram
- Bar chart depicting rise of criminal MPs: - Y-axis: Criminal MPs - Bar 1 (14th LS): 23% - Bar 2 (18th LS): 46%

Impact on Overall Quality

  1. Democratisation of Representation Base vs Rise of SC/ST MPs
  2. Voice to voiceless → women MP (Sudha Murthy) raising women related issues
  3. More experience in Parliamentary forum
  4. Greater inclusion and diversity → Regional Diversity of MPs

Negatives

  1. Vohra Committee → "criminal-politician nexus" → death knell to democracy
  2. Rising entry barriers eg Money power → "chequebook democracy"
  3. Decline in productivity (only 16% time on debate)
Diagram
- Pie chart showing: - A wedge representing "Debate" which is 16% - The remaining area is "Total Time"
  1. Lack of Dynamism and innovative thinking in democracy.

Close · a quotation

"However good a constitution be it will fail, if we don't have good people implementing it" - Dr Ambedkar

More on Parliament

Structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers, privileges and committees.

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