Almost 65% of President promises in last 3 years remain on paper

NEW DELHI: As UPA-2 reaches the halfway mark of its tenure, the list of its pending promises has lengthened. In fact, an analysis of the assurances given by the President in her speeches in the last three years reveals that nearly 65% of the promises remain pending. Only six promises have been met while the status of the rest is not clear.
The analysis by PRS Legislative Research has shown that 21 of the 32 issues raised by President Pratibha Patil in her speeches to Parliament between 2009 and 2011 are pending before the House.Among the significant legislations include assurance to bring legislation for prevention of communal violence, women’s reservation bill, amendment to the Wakf Act, establishment of National Council for Higher Education and Research among others.
The women’s reservation bill that was passed in Rajya Sabha is pending before the Lok Sabha, two bills on the constitutional amendment for 50% reservation for women in panchayats and urban local bodies were introduced in LS in 2009 and legislation for facilitating participation of foreign academic institutions in the education sector have also been pending since May 2010 in the LS.
Among the promises that have seen the light of day is enactment of the right to free and compulsory education bill, Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan to universalize access to secondary education that was launched in 2009 and the Rajiv Awas Yojana for slum dwellers and urban poor whose first phase was cleared by the Cabinet on June 2, 2011. Some legislations like the food security bill, women’s reservation bill and the constitutional amendment for 50% reservation in panchayats and local bodies have found mention in more than one speech over the years.
The dip in legislative work is to a large measure because 30% of the available time in 2011 was lost to disruptions. Of the 54 bills listed for consideration and passing, only 28 were actually passed. According to PRS, 18% of the bills in Lok Sabha was passed in less than 5 minutes while 11% of the starred questions were answered orally on the floor of the House in LS. The think tank said that the status of six promises was not clear