Parliament Committees

Subject: Polity

Context:

Members of departmental Standing Committees of Parliament are gearing up for some tough questioning of the Central Ministries on the Covid-19 lockdown, the migrant crisis and the locusts attack.

Concept:

Department related Standing Committees

• The main objective of the standing committees is to secure more accountability of the Executive (i.e.,the Council of Ministers) to the Parliament, particularly financial accountability. They also assist the Parliament in debating the budget more effectively.
• The 24 standing committees cover under their jurisdiction all the ministries / departments of the Central Government.
• Each standing committee consists of 31 members (21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha). The members of the Lok Sabha are nominated by the Speaker from amongst its own members, just as the members of the Rajya Sabha are nominated by the Chairman from amongst its members.
• A minister is not eligible to be nominated as a member of any of the standing committees.
• The term of office of each standing committee is one year from the date of its constitution.
• Out of the 24 standing committees, 8 work under the Rajya Sabha and 16 under the Lok Sabha.