Parliamentary Reporting – by Vidushi Aparajita

The Indian Parliament is composed of The President of India, Lok Sabha (House of the People) and Rajya Sabha (Council of States). The discussion and debates that takes place among the members of the parliament is recorded by the beat reporters. This type of reporting is known as parliamentary reporting.

A parliamentary reporter is required to report on each sitting of the parliament. His job is to record each and every point that is being mentioned in the parliament. This requires a great deal of concentration and writing speed. One needs to pin down each and every word that is relevant. Also, a strong foothold on the legal system is a must. A parliamentary reporter needs to be aware of the new laws and amendments in the constitution.

The reporter is required to make a final report on his/her observations and present it to the general public without any manipulation or twisting of news. A reporter must stick to the ethics of journalism and should not be biased or hold presumptions on a topic that reflects in his writings.

There are basically three seasons in a Parliament :

1. Budget
2. Monsoon
3. Winter

In the budget season specific budgets are made of separate departments such as Railway Budget etc. These seasons continue for 90 days in which approximately 30 days are allotted to each season.

A Parliament consist of two houses i.e Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Presently the speaker of Lok Sabha is Sumitra Mahajan. She is the first women who fought from the same seat eight times and never lost. She belongs to Madhya Pradesh. The joint session is addressed by the President.

Things that hold national interest are discussed in the parliament and all the citizens have the right to know as to what is being discussed in the parliament. The immediate amendments that are being passed by the new bill, all of this gets recorded by the parliamentary reporter.

There is a crucial requirement of a new budget for various calamities such as war, disaster, floods. This money comes from Prime Minister Relief Fund or other treasuries. The reporter must be aware of the different alternatives for the supply of money. The reporter must keep a close eye on where is the money going that did not get used from the budget. There have been many cases and instances in which the money has been spent for private usage.

The main agenda of any parliamentary reporter should be to educate the masses and make them aware as to what is happening within the parliament.

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