Q. With reference to Departmental standing committees, consider the following statements:
1. A standing committee consists of 21 members entirely from Lok Sabha.
2. They consider the national basic longterm policy documents presented to the Houses.
3. These committees cannot consider the matters of day-to-day administration of the concerned ministries.
How many statements given above are correct?
Exp) Option b is the correct answer
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. Currently there are 24 Departmental standing committees functioning in India. 17 Departmentally-Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) were set up in the Parliament in 1993. In 2004, seven more such committees were setup, thus increasing their number from 17 to 24.
Statement 1 is incorrect. Each standing committee consists of 31 members in which 21 are from Lok Sabha and 10 are 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.
Statement 2 is correct. The functions of each of the standing committees are to consider the demands for grants of the concerned ministries / departments before they are discussed and voted in the Lok Sabha. It also considers national basic long-term policy documents presented to the Houses.
Statement 3 is correct. One of the limitations of these standing committees is that they should not consider the matters of day-to-day administration of the concerned ministries / departments.
