Parliamentary Committees

What is it?

  • A Parliamentary committee is a committee of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected or appointed from amongst the members of the house or nominated by the Speaker or Chairman. 
  • The concept of Parliamentary committees originated in the British Parliament. 
  • These committees operate under the direction of the Speaker of Lok Sabha or Chairman of Rajya Sabha and present their findings and recommendations to the respective houses.

Types of Parliamentary Committees

  • Standing Committees
Name of committee Number of members  Tenure Members nominated or elected
  • Estimates committee
30 1 year  Elected by the Lok sabha
  • Public accounts committee
22 (15LS + 7RS) 1 year  Elected by the two houses 
  • Committee on Public Undertakings
22 (15LS + 7RS) 1 year  Elected by the two houses 

 

Committees to Inquire
  • Committees on Petitions and Privilege
  • Ethics committee
Committees to Scrutinize and Control
  • Committees on Government Assurances, Subordinate Legislation, Papers Laid on the Table, Welfare of SCs and STs, Empowerment of Women. 
  • Joint committee on offices of profit.
Committees Relating to the Day-to-Day Business of the House
  • Business advisory committee,
  • Rules committee,
  • Committee on
    • Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions,
    • Absence of Members from Sittings of the House,
House-Keeping committees or Service committees
  • General purposes committee,
  • House committee,
  • Library committee,
  • Joint committee on salaries and allowances of members.
Departmental standing committees
  • Committee on Commerce, Home Affairs, Human Resource Development, Industry, etc. 
  • Ad Hoc Committee
    • Ad hoc committees are temporary committees constituted for a specific purpose and for a limited period of time. 
    • These committees are usually constituted to consider and report on a specific bill or to inquire into a particular matter of public importance.
    • These committees are dissolved once they have completed their work.

 

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