Department-Related Standing Committees are the engine room of parliamentary scrutiny but their effectiveness has weakened in recent Lok Sabhas. Discuss.
Subtopic: Polity · Parliament & Committee System
How to structure your answer
Introduction: The Department-Related Standing Committee system was constituted on 8 April 1993 on a recommendation of the Rules Committee; 24 DRSCs cover the work of all 99 Ministries and Departments.
Body: Three dimensions — (i) constitutional source — Articles 105 (privileges) and 118 (rules of procedure) provide the base; the Speaker constitutes committees on the floor; (ii) function — Bill scrutiny, Demands for Grants, subject reports; PRS data shows only 16 per cent of Bills referred in the 17th Lok Sabha (against 71 per cent in the 15th); (iii) systemic gaps — no research staff per Member, no sub-committee on legislation, anti-defection whip eroding free debate.
Way forward / Conclusion: Mandatory referral norms in the Rules of Procedure, public hearings on Bills, and a Parliamentary Budget Office on the US-Australia model would revive committee scrutiny.
Written within the word limit
132 words · target 150 words · 9 min
Introduction: Department-Related Standing Committees were constituted on 8 April 1993 by the Rules Committee; 24 DRSCs now cover the work of all 99 Ministries and Departments under the parliamentary engine room of scrutiny.
Body: Three dimensions show the weakening. First, constitutional source — Articles 105 (privileges) and 118 (rules of procedure); the Speaker constitutes committees on the floor, with the PAC, Estimates Committee and Committee on Public Undertakings as Financial Committees. Second, function — PRS data shows only 16% of Bills referred in the 17th Lok Sabha against 71% in the 15th; the RTI Amendment Bill 2019 and Telecommunications Bill 2023 bypassed committees. Third, systemic gaps — no Member-level research staff, no legislation sub-committee, and the anti-defection whip eroding free debate.
Conclusion: Mandatory referral norms, public hearings on Bills and a Parliamentary Budget Office on the US-Australia model — the NCRWC 2002 line — would revive committee scrutiny.
What an examiner expects to see
- DRSCs constituted 8 April 1993 — initially 17, now 24
- Articles 105 and 118 — privileges and rules of procedure
- Public Accounts Committee, Estimates Committee, Committee on Public Undertakings as Financial Committees
- PRS Vital Stats — 16% Bills referred to DRSCs in 17th Lok Sabha
- Joint Parliamentary Committee on Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill 2024
- NCRWC 2002 recommended pre-legislative consultation
- Standing Committees do not require government acceptance of recommendations
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- DRSC on Education — NEP 2020 review
- DRSC on Personnel — RTI Amendment Bill 2019 (not referred)
- Public Accounts Committee on PMC Bank, Coal Block reports
- Joint Parliamentary Committee — Waqf Amendment Bill 2024
- Estimates Committee 1950 — founded by Speaker G.V. Mavalankar