India also has some measures in place to minimize conflict of interest. These are codified in the
Code of Conduct for Ministers,
Code of Conduct for Members of the Rajya Sabha, Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the
Lok Sabha and
Rajya Sabha and Handbook for Members of
Lok Sabha and
Rajya Sabha. Every Rajya Sabha MP has to declare his or her interest (along with assets and liabilities). He has to declare five pecuniary interests: remunerative directorship, remunerated activity, majority shareholding, paid consultancy and professional engagement. Lok Sabha MPs can object to another MP joining a parliamentary committee on grounds that he has personal, pecuniary or direct interest. (
For more details, see PRS note on Conflict of Interest Issues in Parliament). On December 1, 2010, PRS held its annual
Conference on Effective Legislatures. One of the topics discussed was MPs and Conflict of Interest: Issues and Resolution. Panelists included D Raja, Prakash Javdekar and Supriya Sule. Issues such as requirement for transparency, expertise of legislators, election of honest legislators, and ethical media were discussed. The issues that were raised during the discussion are summarised in the
PRS Summary of Proceedings from the Conference.
