The latest analysis done by the Rajya Sabha’s research division has pointed out that the meetings of standing committees of Parliament have ended up being largely a two-party exercise, apart from the ruling BJP and the principal opposition party Congress, participation from other regional parties has been dismal.
On the directions of Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu, the research department studied 100 meetings of these eight committees held during 2019-20.
Mini-Parliament
The Standing Committees are often referred to as mini-Parliament, providing in depth legislative scrutiny, which is not possible during the debates in the House.
In the Rajya Sabha, 34 parties are represented, besides the nominated and independent members. Of these, the BJP and the Congress, accounting for 57% of the total members on these panels, account for 66% of the total participation in the deliberations in the committees. The other top performers are the DMK, the BJD, the SP, the CPI(M) and the CPI.
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Poor attendance by members of the smaller parties, with some of them not attending any of the meetings during the year, is further restricting the range of political participation in the parliamentary panel meetings.
The research revealed that the Bahujan Samaj Party didn’t attend any meetings of committees on transport and tourism, home affairs and commerce. Similarly, the Shiv Sena and the TRS, with one member each on the committee on health and family welfare, skipped all the 21 meetings; the lone Shiromani Akali Dal member skipped all the 20 meetings of the committee on commerce.
The Sikkim Democratic Front member skipped all the 11 meetings of the committee on science and technology and the two members of the Trinamool Congress did not attend any meetings of the committee on industry during 2019-20.
First PAC
In India, the first Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was constituted in April 1950 but the practice of regularly referring Bills to committees began in 1989. All the parliamentarians other than the Ministers are put in one or other committee.
Former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, P.D.T. Achary, says parliamentarians who skip the meetings or do not contribute in the discussions are failing in their duty.
“These committees were initially formed to scrutinise the budgets of various ministries, because budget discussion on all ministries was not possible in Parliament. Many bureaucrats have also commented that these meetings have been useful since it looks at minute details that may escape their own attention,” he added.
A similar analysis for the Lok Sabha that has 12 committees under its purview is not available.
