Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

The most important aspect over the years is that the government’s responsibility has increased very significantly. The main function of the expenditure and the legislation has become more technical and has become more complex in functioning. The main work of the parliament is governed on the floor when the house session is in progress. Hence it is very difficult for the parliament to monitor all the government developmental activities in the limited time. This is where the role of the parliamentary standing committees comes into action to govern all the government developmental activities like expenditure, government policies, and the proposed legislation.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee

There are countless numbers of parliamentary standing committees that look after the matters of the government legislation, expenditure, policies, and the schemes to be implemented by the parliament’s administration. They also can be categorised as the financial committee, departmental standing committee, ad hoc committee, and other parliamentary committees or the conference committee. They have a special provision as the committee consists of an MP and the parliamentary standing committee is regular. They do have the condition of acting as per the Parliament rules and regulations of procedure and the business’s conduct. 

Departmental Standing Committee

This committee looks after the major aspects of the fund’s allocation to all the ministries. They have the major function of examining the bills and doing the process of analysing the bill and the matters related to the policies and the issues on the policies. The standing committee is considered the most powerful as all the finance-related matters are governed by this committee.

Financial Committee 

The financial committees are the one that governs all the government expenditure, and they will always ensure that the public finances should be used effectively. The committees are highly complex and also, and they are technically tasked. The financial committee will facilitate all the major tasks of the parliament. They govern the major aspects of the public accounts, public undertakings, and development estimates.

Ad Hoc Committees 

The house or the preceding officer appoints the ad-hoc committees, and they will be changed from time to time as per the purpose and the requirement. They will function until the task is assigned, and once the report is submitted, they will not exist. They are changed as per the task and the requirement.

Conference Committee

The committee’s major function is when the house passes the bill. Further, their major function is to bring a compromise when the house passes the bill multiple times. They also act as the coordinators when one party accepts, and the other will not accept the bill. There are two types. One is the conference committee, another one is the free conference committee. The conference committee plays a major role when the second house is considered and amends the bill, and once it is returned to the place where the bill was first introduced, the first house will refer it to the standing committee for the second hearing. Only in the second reading the first house may inform the second house to withdraw the amendment, or it may ask the conference committee to resolve the matter.

Free Conference Committee 

If the conference committee can’t resolve the matter, either of the houses may request the free conference committee to resolve the matter. The power of the free conference committee is to either amend the bill or the part of the bill which is not in the debate of the amendment. There are chances that the committee can consider the amendment, and sometimes the governor’s concern can also be taken in the bill amendments.

Conclusion: 

The committees are constituted with different advantages and functions. The committees will give inputs from the experts and also the stakeholders related to the government. The main work of the parliament is governed when the house session is in progress. Hence it is very difficult for the parliament to monitor all the government developmental activities in the limited time. The committee plays a major role in the parliament and parliamentary activities. The main aspect of the committees is the division of labour and implementation of the best functional abilities of intellectuals at the governance level. Any bill introduced will go through all the basic processes and expert intellectuals who can propose the best structure of the bill, and it can be passed in the house without any hindrances.