To what extent, in your view, the Parliament is able to ensure acco... | UPSC Mains Model Answer

To what extent, in your view, the Parliament is able to ensure accountability of the executive in India?

Based on 45 evaluated answers to this question on CollectorBabu: here is what aspirants most often missed, the mistakes that cost marks, and a model answer.

What most aspirants missed

CAG reports and PAC scrutiny as a linked accountability chain, illustrated by the 2G spectrum exposure and the JPC that followed
Anti-defection law: it ensures government stability but weakens dissent and individual MP accountability within party ranks
Declining sitting days (from 120+ in the 1950s to around 60-70 now) reducing time for scrutiny
Guillotine of demands for grants: bulk passing without discussion is a real gap in financial control
Departmentally Related Standing Committees and their role in detailed examination of bills and budgets
Judicial review, such as the 2014 coal block cancellation, as an external check when Parliament fails to act

Common mistakes

Listing mechanisms like Question Hour and committees without assessing how far they actually work, which is the core of the to what extent demand
Relying on the 2G scam alone or on outdated examples, with no recent instances of Parliament succeeding or failing
Treating the no-confidence motion as a strong tool without noting that such motions rarely succeed
Ending with a generic conclusion rather than a clear verdict on the extent of accountability

What the better answers did

Giving a clear verdict on extent early in the answer and testing it against each mechanism
Using specific, dated examples such as the 2G JPC, the 2014 coal block judgment and the 2020 farm laws passage
Balancing tools (Question Hour, Adjournment Motion, PAC, DRSCs) with constraints (anti-defection, disruptions, guillotine, falling sittings)
Using consistent bullet points and subheadings rather than arrows or confusing numbering

Introduction

Open by stating your verdict that Parliament ensures accountability well in form but only partly in substance, so the answer is judged against the to what extent demand from the first line.

Conclusion

Close with a one-line verdict on effectiveness and a specific reform such as strengthening DRSCs, increasing sitting days or limiting blanket guillotine.

Model answer

Parliament holds the executive accountable through daily questions, debates, financial control and collective responsibility, but its effectiveness is uneven. Its real strength lies in financial scrutiny and committees; its weakness lies in party discipline, shrinking sittings and the anti-defection regime. On balance, it ensures accountability well in form but less in substance.

Tools that work

Question Hour and Zero Hour: daily questions force ministerial answers, though written replies often evade the core issue.
Adjournment Motion and Calling Attention Motion: force debate on matters of urgent public importance.
CAG and PAC: CAG findings on 2G spectrum (2010) led to a JPC, and the PAC examines audit reports and summons officials.
Departmentally Related Standing Committees (set up in 1993): scrutinise demands for grants and bills in detail, often through non-partisan reports.
No-Confidence Motion under Article 75(3): the ultimate collective check, but the 2018 and 2023 motions were defeated, showing its limited practical use.

Constraints

Anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule, 1985) compels MPs to vote with the party, weakening dissent within the ruling party.
Sitting days have fallen from over 120 in the 1950s to around 60-70 a year recently, reducing scrutiny time.
Guillotine: budget demands are passed in bulk with little discussion, and the 2020 farm laws were passed in Rajya Sabha without a division or select committee scrutiny.
Frequent disruptions and the use of ordinances allow the executive to bypass Parliament.

Judicial review fills the gap when Parliament fails, as seen in the Supreme Court's 2014 cancellation of 214 coal block allocations. Parliament is therefore effective in exposing lapses but weaker in punishing them; strengthening DRSCs, increasing sitting days and curbing blanket guillotine would deepen accountability.

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