Committees play a pivotal role in the functioning of parliamentary bodies, serving as specialized forums for in-depth examination and deliberation on diverse issues. Their significance lies in their ability to streamline the legislative process, enhance expertise, and ensure comprehensive scrutiny of proposed policies. Committees allow for a more nuanced understanding of complex subjects by providing a platform for detailed discussions and thorough analysis, facilitating informed decision-making by parliamentarians. Among these committees, the Estimates Committee holds particular importance. Tasked with the crucial responsibility of scrutinizing government expenditures and ensuring fiscal accountability, the Estimates Committee plays a crucial role in maintaining financial discipline. By meticulously reviewing budgetary allocations and government spending, this committee serves as a watchdog, promoting transparency, efficiency, and prudent financial management within the parliamentary framework. In essence, committees, exemplified by the Estimates Committee, contribute significantly to the robustness of parliamentary work by fostering expertise, accountability, and thorough examination of critical issues.
Tag: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
Decoding the Question:
- In the Introduction, try to briefly write about the Parliamentary Committees and their role.
- In Body,
- Discuss the importance of the Parliamentary Committee.
- Write about the estimate committee and its functions and limitations.
- In Conclusion, try to mention the overall importance of committees and suggest measures to strengthen them.
Answer:
The functions of Parliament are varied, complex, and voluminous. It has neither time nor expertise to make a detailed scrutiny of all legislative measures and other matters. Therefore, the assistance of the Parliament draws its authority from Article 105 and Article 118 of the Constitution. There are around 24 committees constituted by the Parliament, which consists of members from both Houses roughly in proportion to the strength of the political parties in the Houses.
Importance of Parliamentary Committee:
- Coordination: These committees establish inter-ministerial coordination among different ministries and departments and look into the demands for grants of the ministries concerned, examine Bills about them, consider their annual reports, and look into their long-term plans and report to Parliament.
- Scrutiny: These committees provide important information regarding governance for the value addition in policymaking and act as an instrument of Parliament for its effective functioning.
- Mini-Parliament: The committees consist of MPs from both Houses across political parties, and they function throughout the year as mini-parliament. Its members are not bound by party whips and work effectively on the ethos of debate and discussions.
- Efficiency: Parliamentary committees work as an informal institute compared to the codes that govern parliamentary proceedings; these are also considered as great training schools for new and young members of the House and enable parliamentarians to understand the executive processes closely.
- Expertise: These committees are assisted by experts in dealing with issues and policy-making for effective governance.
- Accountability: It keeps vigil over the government expenditure & performance and ensures executive accountability to the legislature is enforced through questions in Parliament also. E.g., Public Accounts Committee, etc.
Estimate Committee and its Role: The Estimates Committee comprises 30 members solely from Lok Sabha. Its main agenda is to examine the estimates included in the budget and suggest economies in public expenditure. It suggests alternative policies to bring about efficiency and economy in administration. It brings to the notice of the Parliament, the ineffectiveness of the policy and the need for policy changes.
The effectiveness of the role of the committee is limited by the following:
- It cannot question the policy laid down by the Parliament.
- It examines the budget estimates only after they have been voted by the Parliament, and not before that.
- Its recommendations are advisory and not binding on the ministries.
Parliamentary Committees ensure the representativeness, responsiveness, and accountability of the Parliament, which are the foundational pillars of democracy. By employing sector-specific staff, research support, Mandatory scrutiny of all bills, etc. these committees can be made more effective and efficient.
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