Mindful mental healthcare system needed in India

By Dr. Narmadeshwar Prasad

    [Director, Parliamentary & Administrative Research Institute (PARI)]
Abstract The mental healthcare delivery system in India was perhaps never a priority. Yet, of late, the rising suicide cases and the insensitivity of the system towards remedying the apathy seem to be on the mend. The Mental Healthcare Act (MHA) 2017 plays a pivotal role in enabling a fragmented but well-meaning effort. In what could mark the fulcrum of change is a recently concluded examination of the ‘Mental health care and its management in contemporary times’ by the Parliament of India in April 2023 that brings a ray of hope to over 10 percent of India’s population suffering fro ...   Read more

 

Here’s how India’s Parliament could safely conduct its monsoon session amid the Covid-19 pandemic

    Virtual sessions, physical distancing or staggered timings? The jury is still out.
    1. 22 July 2020 (
https://scroll.in/article/968272/how-can-indias-parliament-safely-conduct-its-monsoon-session-amid-the-covid-19-pandemic
    )
By Dr. Narmadeshwar Prasad
    [Director, Parliamentary & Administrative Research Institute (PARI)]
  Enabling transparency in governance and allowing members to voice their concerns about their constituencies, most parliaments around the world are successfully conducting hybrid sessions– that is, combining virtual and physical. India’s public representatives too need to be able to put their legitimate questions to the government about public health and its management during the pandemic, among othe ...   Read more

 

Embracing virtual reality: Parliament can invoke Rule 266, 389 to help Parliamentary committees function virtually

    1. July 17, 2020 (
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/embracing-virtual-reality-parliament-can-invoke-rule-266-389-to-help-parliamentary-committees-function-virtually/2026649/)By Dr. Narmadeshwar Prasad
    [Director, Parliamentary & Administrative Research Institute (PARI)]
  The parliamentary system demands transparency and accountability in governance. Holding regular sessions, therefore, is intrinsic to its character. Parliaments across the world, amidst the Covid-19 crisis, have been conducting their sessions using a hybrid system where the majority of the members participate through a virtual medium with only a few attending in person. In the current scenario, India finds itself heading towa ...   Read more

 

Disastrous management: NDMA’s institutional redundancy and the mismanagement of Covid-19 pandemic

    1. July 3, 2020 (
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/disastrous-management-ndmas-institutional-redundancy-and-the-mismanagement-of-covid-19-pandemic/2011789/lite/
    )
By Dr. Narmadeshwar Prasad
    [Director, Parliamentary & Administrative Research Institute (PARI)]
It is common knowledge that India’s National Disaster Manager Authority (NDMA) is the nodal agency to initiate processes to alleviate strife and suffering arising out of disasters—biological, chemical, physical or hydrological. It was created under the Disaster Management (DM) Act 2005, which vested in it overriding powers to make rules and regulations for preventing, containing, evacuating, providing relief and various other related ...   Read more

 

Washout of Parliament Session, a Breach of Privilege of the Houses, MPs By Dr. N.Prasad

    June 2018
By Dr. Narmadeshwar Prasad
    [Director, Parliamentary & Administrative Research Institute (PARI)]
  parinews

Another idea will hold good if the Parliament adopts the principle of ‘the Disruptors Pay’ and levy heavy penalties on the disrupting members and deduct from their salary and allowances.

A near complete washout of the second part of the Budget Session 2018 has raised some alarming issues. Right to be heard in the Parliament is democratic but taking the Parliament to ransom is outright undemocratic.

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Opinion: News that Congress is out of a key parliamentary committee is a worrying development

    25 Sep 2017 (https://scroll.in/tag/parliamentary-panels)
By Dr. Narmadeshwar Prasad
    [Director, Parliamentary & Administrative Research Institute (PARI)]
  According to recent media reports, the Congress has lost the chairmanship of a key parliamentary panel in the Rajya Sabha. If true, this is not good parliamentary practice and certainly is not a good sign for India’s democracy. A report in the Hindu on September 21 said that the Congress had lost the chairmanship of the standing committee on personnel, law and justice, which was headed by Anand Sharma. It said that Sharma is likely to be replaced by the BJP’s Bhupender Yadav and that a formal order was expected soon. Parliamentary c ...   Read more

 

No to ‘Vote on Account’: A Welcome Reform By Dr N Prasad.

    Jan 2017
By Dr. Narmadeshwar Prasad
    [Director, Parliamentary & Administrative Research Institute (PARI)]
  After Mr. Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister of India, expectations on several fronts, including parliamentary reforms rose. The status quoist attitude of the previous governments influenced people's thinking and turned Indian bureaucracy lethargic.The change of power happened in 2014 on the promise of change. It took around two years to bring the goods and services tax preliminary legislation on track, which will be a landmark reform in our indirect taxation system. The Planning Commission gave way to Niti Aayog thus reducing one major wall between the people of states and the Centre. On the Parliamentary front, the promise to approve the national budgetary grants before March 31, 2016 will go down in the annals of history as major reform with far-reaching implications. Passing general budgets before March 31 would mean ...   Read more