Trust, transparency and accountability are the pillars of good governance. How can legislatures strengthen them?

Good governance needs three things: citizens who trust institutions, decisions made in the open, and power held answerable. Under Article 75(3), the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. This makes the legislature the first guardian of all three pillars. India's delegation made the same point at the 153rd IPU Assembly (Arusha, 2026), where it called for transparency, accountability and public trust [1].

Strengthening Accountability

• Committee scrutiny: Bills sent to committees fell from 71% (15th Lok Sabha) to 11% (17th) [2]. Presiding Officers should make referral the default.
• Financial oversight: the Public Accounts Committee examines CAG reports (Article 151). Demands for Grants need real debate, not the guillotine.
• Question Hour: shield it from disruption and fix a minimum number of sitting days.

Strengthening Transparency

• Pre-legislative consultation: publish draft Bills for public comment, as the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy, 2014 intends.
• Committee hearings: when a Bill skips a committee, expert evidence and public feedback are both lost [2].
• Open data: publish votes, attendance and committee proceedings so citizens can follow each MP's work.

Strengthening Trust

• Representativeness: women are only 14% (74 MPs) of the 18th Lok Sabha [3], against 27.2% worldwide [4]. Implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 quickly; parties can field more women now.
• Probity: give Ethics Committees stronger powers and adopt an enforceable code of conduct.
• Responsiveness: India backed the IPU's emergency item on Himalayan climate disasters [1]. A debate at home on how ready the Himalayan states are would turn that vote abroad into action.

Scrutiny (committees, CAG) ─► Accountability ─┐
Openness (drafts, data)    ─► Transparency   ─┼─► Public TRUST
Inclusion + ethics         ─► Legitimacy     ─┘

Fig: How legislative practices add up to trust

Legislatures build trust when they scrutinise closely, make laws in the open and reflect the society they represent. Restoring committee-first lawmaking, consulting the public and widening representation would match what India said in Arusha. These steps would also serve the Constitution's idea of responsible government and SDG 16.6–16.7, which call for accountable, transparent and inclusive institutions.