Context

It has been observed in recent times that the role of parliamentary committees has rested in formation of Bills, which was not as earlier and they have much more to do with.

• So, let us understand the role of Parliamentary committees in a democracy.

 

What is a Parliamentary Committee?

• The Parliamentary committees are established to study and deal with various matters that cannot be directly handled by the legislature due to their volume.
• They also monitor the functioning of the executive branch.

 

Why they are formed?

• It is not feasible to take up all issues on the floor of the House of Parliament for discussion and thus, Parliamentary committees/ panels were made up of Members of Parliament (MPs) which are constituted to deal with such situations and take up sector-specific concerns.
• The Parliamentary Committees are formed to deal with the various types of matters for which the parliament and play a vital role not merely in law-making, but also in the day-to-day business of the House.

About the role of parliamentary Committees:

• The Job profile and the structure of a parliamentary standing committee and the Parliament is the same.
• It is same to the effect that the committees are sometimes referred to as ‘the mini Parliament’.
• In a parliamentary democracy, Parliament has broadly two functions:

• • Law making
  • Oversight of the executive branch of the government.

• Parliament is the embodiment of the people’s will. Committees are an instrument of Parliament for its own effective functioning.

 Who constitute these committees?

• Members from both Houses across party lines are represented in most of these committees.
• These members are to be nominated by the Speaker of Lok Sabha or the Chairman of Rajya Sabha
• The term of office of these committees does not exceed one year.

Constitutional backing:

• Parliamentary committees draw their authority from two articles:

• • Article 105 (on privileges of Parliament members)
  • Article 118 (on Parliament’s authority to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business).

Significance:

• Committee reports are exhaustive and provide authentic information on matters related to governance.
• Bills that are referred to committees are returned to the House with significant value addition. 

“Parliament is not bound by the recommendations of committees.”

Types of Parliamentary Committee:

• The Standing Committees (DRSC), aligned with specific ministries examines their performance and budgets apart from bills or subjects related to their respective ministries.
• The Financial Committees are primarily responsible for scrutinizing the expenditure priorities of the government; suggest measures to improve efficiency in spending and performance of Public Sector Undertakings.
• The three financial committees are the Public Accounts Committee, the Estimates Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings.
• The Select Committee is formed for analysing a specific legislation/policy and is disbanded after submission of its reports.
• The Administrative Committees are primarily responsible for ensuring day-to-day activities of the legislature are planned in consultation with the members.

Financial control is a critical tool for Parliament’s authority over the executive; hence finance committees are considered to be particularly powerful.

• Business Advisory Committee which prepares the entire schedule of both Houses when Parliament is in session.

Do you Know? The Estimates Committee is the largest committee of the parliament. It consists of 30 members, all are appointed from the Lok Sabha.