UPSC Mains 2021 GS Paper 2 Q15: model answer

The Food Security Bill (2011), the Land Acquisition Bill (2011) and the Data Protection Bill (2021) all came out of committees in a different shape from how they went in. That is the case for the Department-related Standing Committees.

Structure

• Started in 1993 with 17 committees; 24 since 2004.
• Each has 31 members: 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha; 16 are serviced by the Lok Sabha and 8 by the Rajya Sabha.
• Terms of one year; ministers cannot be members.

Functions

• Examine demands for grants of ministries.
• Study Bills referred by the presiding officers.
• Review annual reports and long-term policy documents.
• Follow up through action-taken reports.

Where they keep the administration on its toes

• Officials appear and answer detailed questions without cameras.
• Reports on railway safety funds and on the COVID-19 response drew sharp findings that ministries had to answer.
• Bills on consumer protection, surrogacy and the 2023 criminal laws changed after committee work.
• Their budget scrutiny forces ministries to explain unspent funds.

Where they fall short

• Referral is not mandatory; only about 16% of Bills went to committees in the 17th Lok Sabha.
• Attendance is often under half.
• One-year terms deny expertise.
• Recommendations are not binding, and many action-taken replies are vague.
• Reports often come after the House has already decided.

Reforms

• Mandatory referral of all Bills except urgent ones.
• Two-year terms and research staff.
• Debate on key reports on the floor.
• Public hearings on major Bills.

'Reverence for parliamentary control' will come when ministries fear a committee report as much as a newspaper story. That needs reports that are read, debated and followed up, not filed away in the Library.