Most government assurances to MPs remain only on paper

If you have ever experienced governments not keeping its promises, you are not alone as the parliamentarians of both the Houses –Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha –have received assurances from ministers of the ruling parties that were unfulfilled.

According to a report of the Parliamentary Committee on Government Assurances, which has been analysed by Millennium Post, 45 per cent assurances to Members of Parliament in the lower house have not been kept, while 55 per cent assurances made to members of the upper house are yet to see the light of day.

"Most of the assurances, which are yet unfulfilled, were given by the government during Question Hour and Zero Hour. Assurances such as government will look into the matter and get back to the member, consider the suggestions of the member, etc have even been 'forgotten' by the government," the report stated.

"In Rajya Sabha, the government had made 1,967 assurances and out of which 1,100 are still pending, while in the Lok Sabha out of the total 3,374 promises, 1,515 assurances are still waiting for government's nod to get completed," the findings of the report said. The ruling party at the Centre fulfilled 1,724 assurances out of 3,374.

The performance of the erstwhile UPA government, which was headed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was also not much better as the government failed to fulfil 13.3 per cent of the promises made in the 15th Lok Sabha, while the same regime could fulfil only 39.8 per cent of the promises made during their tenure in 14th Lok Sabha.

The committee to look into the matters of assurances is headed by BJP MP Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank in Lok Sabha, while BSP member Satish Chandra Mishra is chairing the panel in Rajya Sabha.