Parliament's standing committees were formed on Thursday with BJP's Bharturhari Mahtab being picked as the c⭕hair of the key panel on Finance and Shashi Tharoor on External Affairs.
These department-wise standing committees -- with members from across several part🍃ies -- act as a mini parliament, ensuring that all the various ministries are functioning properly.
A communique from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat was issued to🔴 announce the committees.
With former Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh as the chair, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabhꦅa Rahul Gandhi is also named a part of the Defence Committee.
BJP member Radha Mohan Das Agrawal will head the panel on Home Affairs. Meanwhile, the Committee on Communications and Information Technology will be chaired by BJP leader Nishikant Dubey and party MP Kangana Ranaut is reportedly appointed as a member on the🌳 panel.
Notably, in 2022, Dubey was in a tiff with Tharoor who was the chair on the panel of Committee and IT. However, Tharoor was later replaced as th🔜e chair🐲 of the key committee.
Former Union Minister Anurag Thakur will be he⭕adin🎶g the Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel, while Rajiv Pratap Rudy will chair the Water Resources panel.
Congress leaders Charanjit Singh Channi and Saptagiri Ulaka have been given the chairmanships of the panels on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing💛; and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj resp💃ectively.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Tiruchi Siva will head the Commit꧅tee on Industry, while his party colleague Kanimozhi will chair the panel on Consumer Affairs, Food an꧟d Public Distribution respectively.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's key allies like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United) other than its Maharashtra poll partners -- Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), will also head one committee each.
Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) lone Lok Sabha member Sunil Tatkare has been appoint🍒ed as the chairman of the committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas. And Shiv Sena's Shrirang Appa Barne will lead the Committee on Energy.
JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha will be the chair of Transport, Tourisಞm and Culture panel while TDP's Manguta Sreenivasulu Reddy wi🌃ll helm the committee on Housing and Urban Affairs.
The Committee on Health will be chaired by SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav 𝔍while that of Commerce will be led by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Dola Sen, and Chemicals and Fertilisers by TMC's Kirti Azad.
BJP leader Brij Lal, former director general of the Uttar Pradesh police, will lead the panel on Per𓂃sonnel, Public, Grievances, Law and Justice. The members of this panel include former Chief Justice of India Ranjan𒁏 Gogoi and Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Mishra.
The Committee on Science and Technology, Environm🐭ent, Forests and Climate Change will be led by BJP's Bhubaneswar Kalita, while that on Labour will be chaired by Basa🧸varaj Bommai.
BJP's PC Mohan will helm the committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, while CM Rame♍sh will lead the panel on Railways.
Of the 24 department-related parliamentary committees, the BJP has the chairmanship of 11, while its allies have go🐟t four panels to lead. Congress leaders sit at the chair of f💃our panels, followed by two each by DMK and Trinamool Congress, and one by Samajwadi Party.
What Are They? What Do They Do?
According to the definition provided by the Parliament, these standing committees deal with the business transacted to it from the Parliament. T🌊his is because both the Houses have a limited amount of time and considerable volume of wor🌸k.
"Parliamentary Committee means a committee which is appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the Speaker and which works under the direction🔯 of the Speaker and presents its report to t🎐he House or to the Speaker and Secretariat for which is provided by the Lok Sabha Secretariat," it says.
There🔥 are two kinds of Parliamentary Committees: Standing and Ad hoc.💧
By nature and definition, "Standing Commi🎃ttees are permanent and regular committees which are constituted from time to time in pursuance of the provisions of an Act of Parliament or Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. The work of these Committees is of continuous nature. Theꦇ Financial Committees, DRSCs and some other Committees come under the category of Standing Committees."
Functions Of The Standing Committee:
Each Standing Committee, till the 13th Lok Sabha, consisted of not more than 45 members tꩵo 30 to be nominated by the Speaker from amongst the members of Lok Sabha and 15 to be nominated by the Rajya Sabha Chairman. But, with restructuring of Departmentally Related Standing Committees in July, 2004, each panel has 31 members includin𝔍g 21 from the Lower House and 10 from the Upper House.
These committees' functions are:
Consideration of Demands for Grants
Examinat🍷ion of Bills r𒁏eferred to by the Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker as the case may be
Consideration of Annual Reports
Consideration of national basic long term policy documents presented to t🐻he Houses and referred to the Committee by the Rajya Sabha Chair🉐man or the Lok Sabha Speaker as the case may be and make reports thereon.
Notably, these committees do nꦚot consider day-to-day administration matters of the concerned ministries or departments.
With the emphasis of the DRSCs' functioning "to concentrate on long-term plans, policies g🌳uiding the working of the Executive, these Committees are providing necessary direction, guidance, and inputs for broad policy formulations and in achievement of the long-term national perspective by the Executive."
