Parliamentary Control and Government Accountability in South Asia Parliaments or legislatures are the keystone of democratic governance and they are critical in securing government accountability. On the one hand, legislatures are representative bodies: they reflect the sentiments and opinions of the popu- lace. On the other hand, they are the prime source of law by which a country is governed. This book presents a comparative analysis of the role of parliamentary committees in securing government accountability in the three largest and most important functioning democracies in South Asia: Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. The author compares the nascent democracy of Bangladesh with the stable and vibrant democratic system of India since its independence from the British in 1947 and Sri Lanka’s longstanding and established democracy. He argues that in each country, parliament has been able to survive and perform the key parliamentary tasks of representation, legislation, oversight of the executive, conflict resolution and regime maintenance. He concludes that parliamentary committees in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka do not perform as successfully as their counterparts in the Western world in controlling the government and holding it to account; however, their role in securing government accountability is not irrelevant. This comparative research work is an important contribution to the study of parliaments in general worldwide and a useful reference for studying third world parliaments in particular. Taiabur Rahman teaches Development Studies at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. His research interests are in the area of comparative politics, public administration and development studies. Routledge advances in South Asian studies Edited by Subrata K. Mitra South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany South Asia, with its burgeoning, ethnically diverse population, soaring economies, and nuclear weapons, is an increasingly important region in the global context. The series, which builds on this complex, dynamic and volatile area, features innovative and original research on the region as a whole or on the countries. Its scope extends to scholarly works drawing on history, politics, development studies, sociology and economics of individual countries from the region as well those that take an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to the area as a whole or to a comparison of two or more countries from this region. In terms of theory and method, rather than basing itself on any one orthodoxy, the series draws broadly on the insights germane to area studies, as well as the tool kit of the social sciences in general, emphasizing comparison, the analysis of the structure and processes, and the application of qualitative and quantitative methods. The series welcomes submissions from established authors in the field as well as from young authors who have recently completed their doctoral dissertations. 1 Perception, Politics and Security 4 India’s Nuclear Bomb and in South Asia National Security The compound crisis of 1990 Karsten Frey P. R. Chari, Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema and Stephen P. Cohen 5 Starvation and India’s Democracy 2 Coalition Politics and Hindu Dan Banik Nationalism Edited by Katharine Adeney and 6 Parliamentary Control and Lawrence Saez Government Accountability in South Asia 3 The Puzzle of India’s A comparative analysis of Governance Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka Culture, context and comparative Taiabur Rahman theory Subrata K. Mitra Parliamentary Control and Government Accountability in South Asia A comparative analysis of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka Taiabur Rahman First published 2008 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2008 Taiabur Rahman This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library,2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-94576-X Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 0-415-40498-3 (hbk) ISBN10: 0-203-94576-6 (ebk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-40498-3 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-0-203-94576-X (ebk) In memory of my mother Rokeya Khatoon Contents List of illustrations viii Foreword x Preface xii List of abbreviations and acronyms used xv 1 Introduction 1 2 Concepts, theories and methods 7 3 Parliaments and accountability 31 4 Parliamentary committees and accountability 67 5 Parliamentary control and government accountability in Bangladesh: the role of parliamentary committees 93 6 Parliamentary control and government accountability in India: the role of parliamentary committees 133 7 Parliamentary control and government accountability in Sri Lanka: the role of parliamentary committees 170 8 Conclusion 200 Appendix 211 Notes 226 Bibliography 228 Index 249 Illustrations Figures 2.1 Types of accountability relationships in democratic systems 9 2.2 Values and behavioral expectations of different accountability types 11 2.3 Four ways of life 14 3.1 Categorization of some European legislatures 36 5.1 Action taken until the 65th meeting of PAC in the seventh JS (up to 2000) 122 5.2 Delay of the ministries in taking effective preliminary steps in relation to audit objection 123 Tables 2.1 Cultural differences between nations according to Hofstede 25 2.2 Commonalities between Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka 25 2.3 Comparative socio-economic and political development indicators in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka 26 2.4 Divergences between Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka 27 3.1 Mezey’s typology of legislatures 38 3.2 Typology of legislatures 41 3.3 Lijphart’s characteristics for describing democracies 51 4.1 Intra-institutional features of committee strength (continuum) 91 5.1 Constitutional Strength of parliament vis-à-vis government in three selected South Asian democracies 100 5.2 Party distribution of total committee chairs and members in percentage (proportional and actual) 109 5.3 Background characteristics of MPs in the first, second, seventh and eighth JSs (%) 116 5.4 Nature of financial committee activitism 120 5.5 Operations of three financial committees in the seventh JS 121 5.6 Operations of standing committees on three selected ministries in the seventh JS 127 Illustrations ix 6.1 Background characteristics of MPs in the tenth, 11th, 12th, 13th LSs (%) 152 6.2 Nature of committee operation (financial committees) in the 13th Lok Sabha 154 6.3 Statement showing analysis of action taken by government on the recommendations made by three financial committees on their earlier reports presented in the 13th Lok Sabha (2000–2003) 158 6.4 Nature of Committee Operations (departmentally-related standing committees) in Indian parliament 162 6.5 Statement showing analysis of action taken by government on the recommendations made by three selected DRSCs on earlier reports presented in the 13th Lok Sabha(2000–2003) 164 7.1 Bills introduced and passed (2000–2004) 184 7.2 Nature of Committee Operations in the fifth Sri Lankan parliament (committees for special purposes) 187 7.3 Nature of Committee Operations (consultative committees on ministries) in the fifth Sri Lankan parliament 195 Appendix A1.1 Questionnaire survey: results of the questionnaire survey/ interview of the perception of selected MPs on the role of parliament and parliamentary committees in holding the government accountable (Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka) 212–214 A2.1 Numerical strength of government and opposition in Jatiya Sangsads 215 A2.2 Data on legislation in Bangladesh 216 A2.3 Structure of parliamentary committees 217 A3.1 Basic structure of parliamentary committees in the Indian Parliament 218–219 A3.2 Comparative accounts of bills introduced in the 13th Lok Sabha and bills referred to committees 220 A3.3 Reports Presented by DRSCs of Lok Sabha 221 A3.4 Activities of three financial committees in Lok Sabha 221 A3.5 Statements showing analysis of action taken by the government on recommendations made by all 11 DRSCs in the Lok Sabha from 1993–2002 222 A3.6 Acceptance of PAC recommendations by government (1981–1999) 223 A3.7 Format of action-taken report 224 A3.8 Number and duration of sittings of DRSCs of Lok Sabha 225