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Revamp Functioning of Parliament | Why Parliament Needs Reform Beyond More MPs? | The Hindu Editorial | UPSC Polity Current Affairs 2026 Welcome to Vajirao & Reddy Institute - India's Top Potential Training Institute for IAS | 37 Years of Excellence | Daily The Hindu, PIB & ET Analysis. Why in News? The Hindu Editorial: "Revamp functioning of Parliament" - Delimitation Debate Beyond Seat Numbers! Editorial Summary - Core Issue: India is discussing increasing Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850 via Constitution 131st Amendment Bill 2026 & Delimitation Bill 2026, but merely adding MPs without strengthening functional capacity will leave representatives muted on floor. Two Layers of Representation Explained: 1. Voter's access to MP - Avg 18 lakh voters per constituency as per EC 2024 Atlas - 97.98 crore voters - Malkajgiri 37.8 lakh vs Lakshadweep 57,953 - Burden on MP 2. MP's ability to speak for them on floor - Depends on actual floor time - Question Hour, Zero Hour, Debates - Sitting days declining Alarming Decline in Parliamentary Time: - 1st Lok Sabha 1952-57: Avg 135 sitting days per year - BR Ambedkar expected future legislatures to sustain or exceed - 18th Lok Sabha: Far below benchmark - Compressed Question Hour, Zero Hour, floor debate - Why it matters for Delimitation? More MPs but same sitting days = Less time per MP to speak Weak Committee Functioning: - Consultative committees often do not meet mandatory 4 times a year - Department-related Standing Committees short tenure disrupts institutional memory - Lack dedicated sectoral experts beyond secretariat staff - Unlike UK Select Committees which have specialist advisers - Solution: Better resourced, mandatory scrutiny Private Members Business Becoming Symbolic: - Only low single-digit percentage of Private Member Bills ever discussed - Scheduled for alternate Friday afternoons when attendance thin - None enacted since 1970 - Constitutional channel for individual MPs to legislate independently of government - Needs revival Citizen Engagement Gap: - India holds 2026 Chairship of International IDEA - Global body promoting democratic participation - Irony: Parliament website lacks dedicated citizen engagement channel - Kerala & Tamil Nadu state legislatures experimenting with direct public hearings & citizen input mechanisms What Reforms Needed? The Hindu + Hindustan Times Proposals: 1. Fixed sitting calendar - Minimum 135 days like 1st Lok Sabha 2. Guaranteed Opposition Hour 3. Mandatory and better-resourced Committee scrutiny - Longer tenure, expert advisers 4. More Private Members time with ministerial accountability 5. Genuine Citizen Engagement Portal Link with Constitution 131st Amendment Bill 2026: - Proposes to increase Lok Sabha strength to 850 members - 815 from States, 35 from UTs - Amends Article 81 - Removes link between delimitation & post-2026 Census - Allows delimitation based on pre-2026 Census - Fast-track Womens Reservation - Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023 - One-third seats for women - Linking with delimitation - Special Parliament Session Oct 2026 likely to revive bills after failure to get two-thirds majority in April 2026 session - DMK opposition on southern states representation fear - Government logic: Expanding pie allows 273 seats for women without displacing sitting male MPs UPSC Relevance: Prelims: Article 81, Article 82, Delimitation, Constitution 131st Amendment Bill 2026, 135 sitting days, Private Member Bill, International IDEA Chairship 2026, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Mains GS2 Polity: Parliamentary Reforms, Delimitation Debate - North-South divide, Representation vs Functionality, Committee System, Role of Opposition, Citizen Participation in Democracy, Womens Reservation linkage LIKE | SHARE | SUBSCRIBE for Daily The Hindu Editorial Analysis COMMENT: Should we increase Lok Sabha seats to 850 or first fix Parliament's functioning? #RevampParliament #FunctioningOfParliament #LokSabhaReforms #DelimitationBill2026 #Constitution131stAmendment #LokSabhaSeats850 #Article81 #Article82 #SittingDays #QuestionHour #ZeroHour #ParliamentaryCommittees #PrivateMemberBill #InternationalIDEA #NariShaktiVandanAdhiniyam #WomensReservation #BR Ambedkar #TheHinduEditorial #UPSC2026 #UPSCPolity #GS2 #VajiraoAndReddyInstitute