Educated lawmakers

There is a pressing need to prescribe minimum educational qualifications for law makers, says Srijita Majumder

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India, the world's biggest democracy, remains alive in the framework of universal adult franchise as mandated under the Constitution. Therefore, elected representatives owe a huge responsibility towards the public at large. So, some genuine concern may arise regarding the qualifications of public representatives.

Article 84 of the Constitution clearly states that "A person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in Parliament unless he (a) is a citizen of India, (b) is, in the case of a seat in the Council of States, not less than thirty years of age and, in the case of a seat in the House of the People, not less than twenty-five years of age; and (c) possesses such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament." The same is laid down under Article 173 in respect of the State Legislatures.

The provision is, although quite self-explanatory in terms of the qualifications of the Members of Parliament (MP) and the Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA), completely silent on the educational aspect and thereby sets the context of this article. This comes at the cost of effective governance, public satisfaction level and the overall literacy rate of the country. The Constitution makers had shown their foresight by ensuring the minimum educational qualification clauses for other wings of the Government i.e. the Judiciary and the Executive. Therefore, the same criterion for lawmakers can well be established.

A former Election Commissioner, the late G.V.G. Krishnamurthy, had voiced this concern in an address in Chennai in 1998. However, the same was countered for its implementational complexities. Since then, much time has passed and the implementation of a minimum educational qualification has been kept in abeyance.