Consultative Committee of Parliament

Subject: Polity

Context: Consultative committee on foreign affairs questioned govt’s foreign policy on several issues.

Concept:

The meeting of committee was a way of fixing accountability of government as well as making every member aware of India’s foreign policy developments. It brought out many questions facing Indian Foreign Policies today:

1. India’s Internal policies and decisions (ex- Art 370, 35 withdrawal; Citizenship Act) have been critically viewed by some countries.
2. Government plans to engage with the new US administration as it is expected it will be completely different from Trump’s regime

1. The need to find a balance between India’s ties with the US and Russia and the geopolitical contest that has broken out between the US and China
2. Restoring the internal dialogue and consultation process on foreign policy issues

About Consultative Committees:

These are attached to the various ministries/department of the Central government
Its membership encompasses members of both the houses.
The Minister/Minister of State-in-Charge is the chairperson.
It is a platform for informal consultations between government and members on policies and their implementation.
These committees are formed by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs who formulate guidelines for composition, structure and procedure as well. It is also responsible of holding of meeting during as well as between sessions.
It is constituted normally after the formation of new Lok Sabha. Currently around 32 such committees are there.
Sometimes informal consultative committees for railway zones are formed during session period only with MPs of the zone nominated as member.