Do Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees keep the administration on its toes and inspire…

Question

Do Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees keep the administration on its toes and inspire reverence for parliamentary control? Evaluate the working of such committees with suitable examples.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Department-related Standing Committees keep the administration on its toes only partially: they scrutinise grants and bills on evidence, but are often bypassed and their reports only advise. PRS found that only 16% of bills were referred to committees in the 17th Lok Sabha.

**Introduction**

The Department-related Standing Committees, created in 1993 and now 24, were meant to give Parliament a permanent eye on every ministry. PRS found only 16% of bills referred to committees in the 17th Lok Sabha against 71% in the 15th.

**How DRSCs Keep the Administration on Its Toes**

SKETCH: flow | How a DRSC Holds a Ministry to Account
- Demands or bill referred
- Secretaries give evidence
- Experts and public heard
- Report tabled
- Action Taken Report

1. **Scrutiny of grants**: They examine demands for grants, vital when about 80% of the budget passed without discussion in 2019-2023 (PRS).
2. **Improving bills**: The Law and Justice Committee reshaped the Lokpal Bill in 2011, and the Finance Committee's 2012 report corrected the Direct Taxes Code draft.
3. **Questioning policy**: The Agriculture Committee's 2012 report on GM crops and the Health Committee's 2020 Covid-19 report tested government on evidence.

**Where the Committees Fall Short of Inspiring Reverence**

1. **Bypassed on major laws**: The 2020 farm laws skipped committee scrutiny, making referral an option rather than a rule.
2. **Advisory reports**: Ministries reply late or selectively in Action Taken Notes.
3. **Partisan breakdown**: The IT Committee's Pegasus meeting failed for want of quorum in July 2021.
4. **Thin capacity**: One-year terms and little research staff weaken expertise.

**Way Forward**

1. **Reform the rules**: Mandatory referral, longer tenure, research staff and House debate on reports, on the lines of the UK's Wright reforms (2010).

**Conclusion**

The DRSCs keep the administration on its toes only partially, forcing ministries to justify themselves on evidence where they are used. They will inspire reverence for parliamentary control only when Parliament refers bills to them and acts on their reports.

Do Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees keep the administration on its toes and inspire reverence for parliamentary control? Evaluate the working of such committees with suitable examples.

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Parliament — Conduct of Business5 questions

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