History:
The Office of Whip is a purely British Institution. This Institution is central to the working of the British Parliament. The Whips are not officially recognized in the standing orders of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. but long tradition has given them a secure place in the parliamentary machine. The efficient and smooth running of the parliamentary machine depends largely upon the Whips. In the Parliamentary form of Government, the Whips who are drawn from the Party in power and the party or parties in opposition form vital links in the internal Organisation of a party inside Parliament. They are important office-bearers of the parties in Parliament.
"The word 'Whip' is derived from the 'Whippers-in' employed by a hunt to look after the hounds and keep them together in the field. Parliamentary Whips are supposed to be similar disciplinarians controlling the flock of members in their party."
NOTE: According to Dr. Radha Kumud Mookerji the working of Buddhist Sangha shows that there existed the whip who was called Ganapuraka.
Whip in India:
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs is the Chief Whip of Government. He is directly responsible to the Leader of the House. It is a part of his duties to advise the Government on Parliamentary business and to maintain a close liaison with the Ministers in regard to parliamentary business affecting their Departments.
The Chief Whip is the eyes and eats of the Leaders of the Party so far as the members are concerned. He conveys the wishes of the Leader to the members of the Party and keeps the Leader informed of the current opinion in the Party as also the moods and inclinations of individual members when these deserve special notice. There are regional Whips also who keep liaison with the Members belonging to their respective States in regard to the business of the House. With their assistance, the Chief Whip controls the members of the party in power and ensures that during sittings there is quorum in the House and that adequate number of members of the party are present at the time of voting. For this purpose, he sends them advance intimation through the familiar system of ordinary, one, two and three-line Whips to indicate the extent of urgency attaching to the vote on a particular measure before the House.
During the course of actual working, Whips of the Government party and of parties in the Opposition come into contact with each other to sort out matters of common interest and to understand and accommodate each other on many crucial occasions when it is convenient for both sides to arrive at mutual understanding. Even in the matter of selection of members of the Opposition for Select Committees, contact between Whips of the Government and the Opposition becomes important.
Chief Whip in India performs multifarious functions, the important among which are to:
1. Decide about the spacing of Parliament Session during the year, considering the volume of business pending, climatic conditions, festival days, etc.--
2. Adjust the session's program of the House with that of the other;
3. Finalize the Government business in consultation with Ministries of the Government of India and also, if necessary, Opposition Whips;
4. when the Session actually commences, see that the legislative and the non-legislative business of the Government is transacted in accordance with the planned program;
5. send notices to members, that is Whips indicating the urgency and importance attached to each business;
6. assign roster duties to Ministers so that some Ministers are always present in the House and the Government is not put in an embarrassing position by the absence of Ministers concerned with the subject matter of the business as well as others who deputize for them;
7. assist Members in the general interest of the party, feed them with material and provide them general guidance;
8. supply list of speakers on Bills and other business in the House
to facilitate the job of the Chair, who would like to call the Members to speak;
9. suggest names of Members to be appointed on various Select and other important bodies or to be included in various parliamentary delegations;
10. attend meetings of Business Advisory Committee for discussion and allotment of time for transaction of various items of Government business.
By the Constitution (52nd Amendment) Act, the task of the Whips has become easier. Although the main job of the Whip to make the House and to keep the House continues in regard to important divisions or voting, the work of the Whip has become more a formal affair than a taxing one. The member who votes or abstains from voting contrary to the Whip of the Party, runs the risk of losing his seat in the House under the 52nd Amendment of the Constitution. As such the Whip as a document which is called "Direction" of the party in the Constitution has assumed great significance. A process which originated as an informal arrangement has now assumed a constitutional status in India.
The Parliament has passed on Act known as the Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognized Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act, 1998 this Act provides the following facilities to each Chief Whip of a recognized party and a recognized group:
- Telephone facilities:- 10,000(Ten thousand) free local calls per annum for both office and residential telephones put together in addition to the free calls admissible as a Member of Parliament; and
- Secretarial facility:- One Stenographer (Private Secretary Gr.III)
The above facilities are temporary and co-terminus with the tenure as the Chief Whip of the recognized party or group. The telephone and Secretarial facilities are provided to the Chief Whip of each party which has a strength of not less than twenty five Members in respect of Lokl Sabha and of each Group which has a strength of not less than fifteen Members in respect of Rajya Sabha. The Party/Group should be the one which has been recognized by the Chairman as such Party/Group, for availing the facilities.
