Revision summary
Departmentally related standing committees examine bills, grants, and ministry work. PAC, Estimates, and Public Undertakings are the core financial watchdogs. Other committees handle petitions, privileges, rules, and ethics. Select and joint committees take complex bills or scandals. Reports recommend; the floor still votes, and delayed follow-up is a weakness.
Model answer
Introduction
Most of Parliament’s detailed work happens in committees, not in the noisy hour of Question Time. Description must show standing, financial, and ad hoc committees as the working organs of the Houses.
Body
Standing and departmentally related committees
- Departmentally related standing committees examine bills, demands for grants, and ministry performance, which the floor cannot do clause by clause for every department.
- They take evidence from officials and experts and table reports that the government is expected to answer.
Financial committees
- The Public Accounts Committee reads CAG reports and names waste; Estimates and Public Undertakings committees watch spending and PSUs.
- These committees are the main post-budget control once the Appropriation Act has passed.
Other roles
- Petitions, privileges, subordinate legislation, and ethics committees police the House’s own procedure and delegated rules.
- Joint and select committees, including JPCs, handle complex bills or inquiries when the standing system is not enough.
- Informal all-party membership can cool partisanship, though a government majority still shapes many conclusions.
Limit
- Reports are recommendatory; a thin House attendance and delayed ATR weaken the role.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD H[Houses] --> DRS[Departmentally related committees] H --> FIN[PAC Estimates PU] H --> AD[Select JPC others] DRS --> R[Reports to Parliament] FIN[FIN] --> R[R] AD[AD] --> R[R] R --> G[Government action]
Conclusion
Parliamentary committees make Indian Parliament function as a scrutinising body by studying bills, grants, accounts, and delegated law. They do not replace a vote on the floor, but without them the Houses would legislate and spend almost blind.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Comment on the main theme of the G-20 Summit held in 2021 (Rome).
Next question in the 2021 paper (Q8). View answer →
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Can a committee veto a bill?
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Are all bills sent to a standing committee?
No. The presiding officer or the government may skip or fast-track; that is a frequent criticism of recent practice.
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