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Indian democracy is based on the fair functioning of the legislature, executive, and judiciary. To ensure accountability in all three branches, we have different checks and balance systems. In this system, one branch keeps an eye over the other and prevents any misconduct. One of the ways by which a check is kept on the power of ministries is by constituting departmental standing committees.
Departmental standing committees play a key role in advising the ministries and ensuring accountability. In this article, we will check out the meaning, formation, functions, importance, and other related facts about different parliamentary committees.
Meaning of departmental standing committees:
A committee comprising parliament members constituted through proper acts of Parliament for guiding and overlooking the executive branch is called a departmental standing committee. These committees are different from ad hoc committees because they are for a regular and permanent period while ad hoc committees are temporary and issue-specific committees.
These committees serve different functions like inquiry, scrutinizing, day-to-day activities of the house, bill passing, etc.
What is the purpose of having different parliamentary committees?
Parliamentary committees serve the following functions:
a. The executive becomes more accountable to the general public because of these departmental standing committees.
b. The financial statement of these ministries and the executive branch is overseen by these committees. As a result, the chances of corruption and malpractices are reduced.
c. Even while formulating the union budget for the country, these committees play an important role. This is because these committees have properly analyzed the needs of various departmental executives and accordingly give sound advice to parliament.
d. Since these standing committees in India work closely with almost every ministry in the center, they are more likely to have a proper check on misuse of power.
e. It also analyses the budgetary demands put forward by various ministries and suggests some changes, if required.
f. It also reviews the annual reports of different central government ministries.
g.If any long-term policy is going to be discussed in the houses, the departmental standing committees will try to give their valuable feedback and make these policies more robust and effective.
h. These committees also handle a lot of work that comes under the realm of the Indian parliament.
The formation of departmental standing committee India:
In India, departmental standing committees were formulated on the advice of the Lok Sabha Rules committee. The formation took place in the year 1993 and we got almost seventeen different committees. But gradually the need was felt for more committees. As a result, the number was raised to twenty-four in the year 2004.
Even before 1993, we had certain departmental committees to overlook the work of executives. For instance, the agricultural, environmental, science, and technology sector was overlooked by almost three standing committees in the year 1989. This helped the government in formulating effective policies for these sectors.
Gradually these standing committees were replaced by department-oriented committees. This is why today we have almost twenty-four departmental standing committees in India composed of members from both upper and lower houses of the parliament.
Formation and constitution of Parliamentary committees:
Parliamentary committees comprised only parliamentarians. To ensure proper representation in these departmental standing committees, we have ten members from Rajya sabha and twenty-one from Lok Sabha. For choosing twenty-one members from Lok Sabha for these standing committees, the speaker and the chairman of Rajya Sabha play a very important role.
The Speaker will nominate these members in the case of Lok Sabha and the chairman of Rajya Sabha will nominate ten members from Rajya Sabha for constituting these parliamentary committees. The chairman and speaker make sure that existing cabinet ministers are not chosen as a member of these committees. This is done so that accountability, fairness, and transparency remain intact.
Further, the monitoring of these committees is divided between the two houses. For instance, Rajya Sabha governs the working of eight committees out of twenty-four but Lok Sabha (being a larger house) governs the working of the remaining sixteen parliamentary committees.
What are the negative points about parliamentary committees?
Parliamentary committees, even after having an important role to play, suffer from a major flaw. Their recommendations are not binding. This means that even if their suggestions are helpful for the country, they might not be accepted just because some members of parliament don’t want them to get passed.
Further, they can’t interfere in those matters which other standing committees are already looking at. This is done to prevent wastage of time because a matter which is already considered by some group would not require much deliberation again.
Conclusion:
Departmental standing committees play a key role in monitoring the executive branch of government. They not only ensure accountability but also improve the functioning of these ministries by giving sound advice. In India, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members become part of different committees.
Though these committees have a lot of roles to play, they can’t interfere in each others’ matters and their recommendations are not even binding. This reduces the significance of having an oversight committee. Some changes are required in the functioning of these standing committees to make them more powerful.
