The Hindu published an article on Wednesday (February 14th, 2024) pompously titled “The many lows of the 17th Lok Sabha”. They frequently used the terms “a new low”, “all time low”, “the lowest”, to quantify certain data points that suit this false narrative. For even non-serious students of policy, law, politics and legislation, it is as evident as daylight that the 17th Lok Sabha is the most historic Lok Sabha that transformed an archaic Indian law into a modern, relevant and long lasting one.
Did you know that in the year 2019, for the first time ever in our independent history, the Modi government in the 17th Lok Sabha enacted a law that gives special protection to Transgenders? The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 prohibits unfair treatment to transgenders and makes them equal in law to the other two genders. Normally, you would have seen the woke crowd celebrating this Act but instead they would rather call this a “new low”.
Did you know that India did not have any law against doping in sports, until the 17th Lok Sabha passed the National Doping Act? While of course the act lists out punishments for doping (I still can’t believe we didn’t have a law before 2021!) and establishes an agency that will oversee this, this act also ensures that we do not have to depend on foreign agencies for doping related results/actions. Surely, an act that establishes punishment for getting “high” cannot be a “new low” for the 17th Lok Sabha!
Male and Female infertility is on the rise. Therefore, medical institutes offering various solutions to this problem are also on the rise. Did you know that India did not have a law that governs both surrogacy and assisted reproduction until the 17th Lok Sabha passed the Surrogacy Regulation Act, 2020 and Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Act, 2020. It is fairly common knowledge to understand how women can be taken advantage of, and how this will impact their health. Yet, it took a Modi government to bring in laws to regulate unethical practices and provide a legal backing to women. An “all time low”, eh?
Until the 17th Lok Sabha stepped up to achieve a “new low”, the law in India was that you can only enroll as a voter if you complete 18 years on or before January 1st. Meaning, if you complete 18 years on Jan 2, 2020 – you will be eligible to vote only next year, and not in the current year. That silly law has now been changed, again by the 17th Lok Sabha!
The 17th Lok Sabha strengthened the rights and lives of both employers and employees, by enacting Code for Social Security 2020, Code of Wages 2019, Industrial Relations code 2020, Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020. You may wonder how these laws will impact lives of normal people? While stooping to an “all time low”, the 17th Lok Sabha has ensured that minimum wage has been generalised for all sectors now; overtime pay is mandatory; more money saved for your future. There is also clarity on fixed-term employment & trade union rules; there is gratuity eligibility for short periods; eases rules for lay-offs; allows for more flexibility in eligibility for leaves; special provisions for certain worker types; and increased focus on health of workers!
The English media never focussed on such game changing laws that were enacted by the 17th Lok Sabha. You may have noticed that I haven’t even touched about the much bigger and much larger generational transforming laws that the 17th Lok Sabha witnessed and enacted. Who can ever forget that the impeccable manner in which the dreaded Article 370 was abolished in August 2019, during the 17th Lok Sabha? The transformation that is brought to the lives of people in J&K and Ladakh, and more importantly the transformation it bought to the psyche of our country can never be quantified, much less classify it as a “new low”!
The 17th Lok Sabha increased the age of marriage from 18 to 21. Surely, a “new low”. The 17th Lok Sabha enacted the modern Telecommunications Act 2023, and the Digital Data Protection Act – something that is very relevant to this century at least. The 17th Lok Sabha enacted the much awaited, much delayed Women’s Reservation Bill. Post the next delimitation exercise we will have 1/3rd of seats reserved for women and therefore see an increased participation of women in law making. How can anything that increases participation get classified as a “new low”?
The 17th Lok Sabha rewrote our entire Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act – and enacted the brand new, fully relevant and modern criminal laws Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023. The Bharatiya Sakshya Bill 2023, equally transformational in nature, has been referred to a standing committee for now. In a couple of years, all these three pivotal laws will be implemented and used for generations to come. How is it possible to reduce the passing of such transformational acts to a mere statistic?
And the largest of all reforms – India’s Parliament moved into a much bigger, spacious and better building. The pride with which the nation watched the Prime Minister of India take the Sengol and install it on the Lok Sabha Speaker’s podium can never be quantified into mere statistics. It is very evident that the “new lows” that The Hindu wanted to paint pale in comparison to the “multiple highs” that the 17th Lok Sabha has achieved. No one anticipated that the 17th Lok Sabha will transform not just the 5 years of its term, but will rewrite laws that will transform generations. The Hindu’s article though, can easily be classified as a “new low” even by the low standards of The Hindu!
