GS Paper 2
Syllabus: Parliament- structure, functioning and conduct of business, parliamentary committees etc
Context:
There should be a dedicated hour during the Rajya Sabha proceedings to discuss the“import and implications’ ‘of the reports finalized by Parliamentary Standing Committees, a panel headed by former General Secretary and adviser P.P.K. Ramacharyulu has recommended it.
- It studied the working of the Rajya Sabha secretariat and other procedural issues and made 130 recommendations.
- This is the first-ever comprehensive study of the Rajya Sabha secretariat.
- The Rajya Sabha secretariat, which started in 1952 with 200 officers and staff, has 1700 personnel at present.
Suggestions by the Panel:
- Increasing tenure of Parliamentary Committees: The committee suggested that the tenure of the Parliamentary committees should be increased from the present one year to two years.
- Increase in field visits: Field visits should also be increased from the present two visits for a maximum of 10 days in a year to three visits and 15 days.“
- Formation of Committee hour: Given the efforts that go into the preparation of reports by the DRSCs and their import and implications, a Committee Hour has been recommended for consideration to discuss select major reports in the Parliament for wider amplification of the content of the reports.
- Reports should be accessible: The panel said that these reports should be made more accessible to the stakeholders and general public.
- Streamlining of the secretariat work: The Study has suggested streamlining of the secretarial work, including disposing of of75% of the issues at lower and middle levels in a 10-layer hierarchy that exists in the secretariat at present.
Insta Links:
Practice Questions:
Q. Why do you think the committees are considered to be useful for parliamentary work? Discuss, in this context, the role of the Estimates Committee. (UPSC 2018)
Q. Consider the following statements:
- Both the public accounts committee and the committee on public undertakings have 22 members each, fifteen elected from the Lok Sabha and seven from the Rajya Sabha.
- Parliament is not bound by the recommendations of committees.
Which of the statements given above is/are not correct?
a. 1 only
b. 2 only
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
Ans: (d)
Justification:
Composition of Financial Committees:
- The estimates committee has 30 members, all from the Lok Sabha.
- Both the public accounts committee and the committee on public undertakings have 22 members each — 15 elected from the Lok Sabha and seven from the Rajya Sabha.
- Powers: Parliamentary committees draw their authority from Article 105 (on privileges of Parliament members) and Article 118 (on Parliament’s authority to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business).
- However, Parliament is not bound by the recommendations of committees.
