The monsoon session of the Parliament will officially end on August 13 and till now there is no end in sight to the ongoing deadlock. Productivity of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha stood at 10 percent and 7 percent respectively till July 30. It is now clearly evident that the opposition has held the Parliament to ransom while the government has failed in its responsibility to manage the floor efficiently. The Congress is doing the same what the BJP did when it was in opposition and in this politics of obstructionism, reform hopes are fast fading away.

What do we elect our representatives for? In parliamentary system of government, an alert, fearless and vigilant opposition is imperative. It is the opposition that must uphold the best interests of the nation and ensure that the Government does not take any anti-people steps. We do not elect them to throw a tantrum and walk out when they should be sorting things out. Does it entitle the opposition the right to disrupt the Parliament simply because the ruling party did the same when it was in opposition? Is it wise for them to put forward an alternative view even if the national interest dictates otherwise?

On the other hand, the ruling party — disruptions and obstructionist attitude of which resulted in 63 percent productivity of the Parliament during the UPA-2 tenure — should learn a lesson from this. At the same time, it should do its best to reach out non-NDA parties to gather support for its reform bills. Already, it has become clear that the Land Bill will not come to the Parliament before the winter session and it is very likely that the GST bill, which is seen as a test case of the NDA's reform agenda, will meet the same fate, with the Congress refusing to call off protest to allow a discussion on the bill. Needless to say, this will be a big blow to the reform efforts.

Meanwhile, while the ongoing Parliament logjam has brought the "no work, no pay" debate again to the fore, ironically majority of members from all political parties in a Parliamentary panel recently unanimously demanded salary hike. At present, every MP — besides being entitled to a slew of incredible perks — takes home a whopping salary, but the panel members feel that this amount is "much less" than those in other Commonwealth Nations. But unfortunately most of our elected representatives show little concern over the tax payers' money going down the drain due to Parliament lockdown and the evil effects of obstructionism on the economy.

I invite your opinions.