2. How bills are usually passed in the Parliament?

Do you think the process requires any modification,

especially in bringing more transparency and inclusiveness? Analyze.

Procedure for bill passing

Any Bill in the Parliament goes through the three stages.
1. In the First Reading the Bill is introduced either by a Minister or a private member of the
house. It is then published in the Gazette and may be referred to the Standing Committee of
the House.
2. In the Second Reading of the Bill, the general principles behind the Bill are discussed. It can
then be referred to either Select Committee or a Joint Committee of both the houses. The
Committee can seek public/expert opinion on the Bill and can make amendments. The Bill as
reported by the Committee is then discussed clause by clause in the House. Amendments
can be made at this stage and put to vote of the House. If accepted by majority, they become
part of the Bill.
3. In the Third reading, debate is confined to either in support or rejection of Bill without
considering the details. It is then put to vote in the House and deemed to be passed if
accepted by simple/special majority depending upon the type of Bill.
The bill is then passed on to the other house of parliament and on passage from the other house it is sent
to the President for his assent.On receiving the assent the bill is deemed to be passed
Modification Proposed in the procedure :
The essence of our parliamentary democracy lies in the fact that bills introduced and passed in the
parliament meet the aspirations of the people of the country.In order to check that the bills passed are in
consonance with the peoples need, the following modification may be introduced in the procedures:1. The government should publish a list of all bill it proposes to introduce at the beginning of
each year. This would help the people to form an opinion of their own as to what they expect
from proposed bill.
2. The ministry supposed to be introducing the bill should publish in media the details of the
bill.The details may include the draft bill with brief justification for such legislation along with
other essential elements and implication that the bill may have for general public
understanding.

3. An adequate time frame should be given for public to give its feedback.The summary of
feedback then may be included along with the draft of the bill for deliberation of the
Parliament.
4. The reference of the bill to the standing committee should be made necessary.
5. Further it should be ensured that the standing committee has at its disposal adequate
technical expertise from the domain in which the legislation is to be made.
6. In the second stage of bill passing the feedback from the public on the proposed bill should
be summarized and should be reported to the parliament by the committee.
7. In case if any of the bill is not made to pass through any of the above steps due to
exceptional circumstances the concerned ministry must record the reasons for not doing so.
Conclusion
All these steps would help in making our democracy more transparent and inclusive. They would
go a long way in reaffirming the meaning of democracy Of the people, By The People , For the
People in true sense.

References :
1. http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/when-the-state-listens/

3. Civil Services Examination reform ought to have been an easy enough place to begin the
arduous task of administrative reform. Comment on the statement in the light of recent
changes introduced by the UPSC and the government to the examination and eligibility
criteria respectively.
Introduction:
The Indian Civil Service in the pre independence era was defined as the steel frame on which
the whole structure of government and administration existed. Its legacy of high standards
has been tried to be maintained even after independence. Even today the civil service
examination is considered as one of the toughest exam and the prestige of the services along
with the honour to serve the nation attracts the best of talent from various disciplines.
Changes in the Civil Service Examination:
In order to keep abreast with the changing times UPSC and the government have introduced
the following changes in the civil service examination :1. A new paper in the prelims has been introduced for checking in the aptitude of the
aspirants.
2. Instead of two optional subjects in the main examination there is now only one optional
subject.
3. A new paper on Ethics, Integrity and Morality has been introduced.
Even a cursory glance at these changes would tell the person that the aspirants are required
to have good logical understanding along with a strong moral fiber. These are qualities that
are actually needed in our system to make it work correctly.
Reaction to changes:

The proposed changes in the examination pattern was resented among sections of aspirants
and the government of the day had to increase the number of attempts by 2 and grant
subsequent age relaxation across all categories.
Conclusion :
The changes in the examination were the need of the hour. As these changes would help
shortlisting candidates who are dynamic, analytical ,ethical and aquainted with the
contemporary politico-societal environment.
The relaxation never the less were necessary considering the diverse educational
background of aspirants ,that the people from rural and non computational background might
be needing more time to adapt to the changes proposed.
References;

1. http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/another-shot-in-the-dark/2/