Parliamentary Committees & Comptroller And Auditor General

Table of Contents
1. Recent News
2. Types of Parliamentary Committees
3. Standing Committees
4. Functions of Parliamentary Committees
5. Regulation of Parliament by Itself
6. Importance of Parliamentary Committees in Indian Democracy
7. Way Forward for Parliamentary Committees
8. Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)
9. Relationship between Parliamentary Committees and the CAG
10. Conclusion
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Recent News

• The Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation recently convened to evaluate the fulfilment of legislative responsibilities and adherence to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) standards.
• The committee is tasked with scrutinising and presenting reports to the House on the proper exercise of authorities granted by the Constitution or delegated by Parliament to formulate regulations, rules, sub-rules, and bye-laws.
• The committee comprises 15 members from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, nominated by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha as appropriate; ministers are ineligible to serve on this committee.
• The Chairman of the committee is selected from among its members by the Speaker or Chairman, and in the event of equality of voting, the Chairman has only a casting vote.

Types of Parliamentary Committees

Parliamentary committees help the legislature manage large volumes of work, provide specialised scrutiny and enable detailed examination of bills, policies and government actions. Broadly, committees are of two types:

• Ad hoc committees - temporary committees formed for a specific purpose and dissolved after submitting their report.
• Standing committees - permanent committees constituted for recurring functions; some are departmental, others are related to financial or housekeeping functions of the Houses.

Ad Hoc Committees

Ad hoc committees are constituted from time to time to examine a particular issue, bill or allegation. They are not permanent and cease to exist once they complete the assigned task and submit their report. Key features are temporariness, task-specific mandate and focused inquiry.

• Inquiry Committees: Set up by either House (or jointly) or by the Presiding Officer to hold detailed inquiries into specific matters; they gather evidence, examine witnesses and submit recommendations. Examples include joint inquiries into administrative matters or protocol violations.
• Advisory Committees: Appointed to examine particular bills or matters and to provide a report or recommendations before the matter proceeds in the House.

Standing Committees

Standing committees are permanent bodies that assist Parliament in routine and specialised functions. They enable detailed pre-legislative and post-legislative scrutiny, oversee financial administration and examine the working of ministries and public undertakings.

Classification of Standing Committees

Standing committees in the Indian Parliament can be grouped as follows:

• Financial Committees (e.g., Public Accounts Committee, Estimates Committee, Committee on Public Undertakings)
• Department-related Standing Committees (DRSCs) - examine the work of specific ministries and subjects; they generally consist of members from both Houses and review demand for grants, bills and policy matters.
• Committees for scrutiny and control - such as Committee on Subordinate Legislation and Committee on Government Assurances.
• Committees to inquire - such as Committee on Petitions, Committee of Privileges and Ethics Committee.
• House-keeping and service committees - such as Business Advisory Committee, General Purposes Committee and Library Committee.
• Consultative Committees - informal committees associated with ministries for regular interaction between ministers and Members of Parliament.

Functions of Parliamentary Committees

Financial Committees

• Public Accounts Committee (PAC): Examines the annual audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the accounts laid before Parliament; it scrutinises whether public money has been spent in accordance with Parliament's intentions and recommends remedial action.
• Estimates Committee: Evaluates the estimates included in the Budget to suggest economies in public expenditure and improvements in organisation or administrative efficiency; it reviews proposed expenditure and suggests better utilisation of resources.
• Committee on Public Undertakings: Scrutinises the reports and accounts of public sector undertakings and recommends improvements in management and performance.

Departmental Standing Committees (DRSCs)

Role: DRSCs examine bills, budgets (demand for grants), policy documents and programmes of specific ministries. They bring subject expertise and continuity to scrutiny.

• Most DRSCs consist of members from both Houses; a common composition for DRSCs is 31 members (21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha), although exact numbers are determined by Rules of the respective House.
• DRSCs examine detailed estimates, performance and bills related to their assigned ministries and present reports with recommendations.

Day-to-day Business and House Administration

• Business Advisory Committee: Manages the daily and weekly schedule of the House, allocation of time for Government business and discussions.
• Private Members' Committee: Categorises private members' legislation and allocates time for debates on private members' bills and resolutions.
• Rules Committee: Proposes changes and clarifications to the Rules of Procedure and conducts periodic reviews.
• Committee on Members' Absence: Considers applications for leave of absence submitted by members of the Houses.

Committees to Scrutinise and Control

• Committee on Government Assurances: Examines the implementation of promises, assurances and undertakings given by ministers in the Lok Sabha; it assesses progress on such assurances. It has 15 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 members from the Rajya Sabha.
• Committee on Subordinate Legislation: Scrutinises whether the executive's rule-making powers delegated by Parliament or the Constitution are properly exercised and whether the delegated legislation is within the scope of enabling statutes.
• Committee for the Welfare of SCs and STs: Reviews measures for welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and receives reports from the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes; it consists of 30 members (20 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha).
• Committee on Papers Laid on the Table: Examines the propriety and compliance of documents laid on the Table by ministers; it has 15 Lok Sabha members and 10 Rajya Sabha members.
• Committee on Women's Empowerment: Reviews reports from the National Commission for Women and examines measures for women's welfare.
• Joint Committee on Office of Profit: Examines whether membership of certain offices disqualifies persons from Parliament and makes recommendations on the composition and nature of such bodies.

Committees to Inquire

• Committee on Petitions: Considers petitions submitted by the public about legislative or administrative matters and recommends action where appropriate.
• Committee of Privileges: Has semi-judicial functions to examine alleged breaches of parliamentary privilege or contempt of the House; it comprises 15 Lok Sabha members and 10 Rajya Sabha members.
• Ethics Committee: Examines cases of alleged misconduct by members and recommends suitable sanctions.

House-keeping Committees and Service Committees

• General Purposes Committee: Deals with matters that do not fall within the remit of other committees and may make recommendations on administrative or procedural issues.
• Library Committee: Oversees the management and development of the Library of Parliament and related facilities.

Consultative Committees

• Consultative Committees are informal advisory bodies attached to ministries. They provide a forum for Members of Parliament to interact with ministers and senior officials on policies, programmes and implementation.
• They are constituted by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; their composition usually ranges from a minimum of 10 members to a maximum of 30 members.
• These committees meet periodically, normally in an informal setting, and are not empowered to make binding decisions; their advantage lies in facilitating bipartisan discussion and information exchange.

Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPCs)

Joint Parliamentary Committees are ad hoc committees with members drawn from both Houses. They are constituted to examine particular bills of great importance or to investigate matters of serious public concern, including financial irregularities.

• A JPC may examine evidence from experts, government bodies, associations and individuals; a witness failing to appear in response to a summons may be treated as in contempt of the House.
• JPCs may be appointed by a House, or by the Speaker or the Presiding Officers of both Houses, as appropriate, when the matter demands combined scrutiny.
• Examples of committees and panels that function jointly or as select/joint groups include the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Committee on Offices of Profit, Committee on Empowerment of Women, Library Committee, Committee on Food Management in Parliament House Complex, Committee on Installation of Portraits/Statues in Parliament House Complex and Committee on Security Matters in Parliament House Complex.

Regulation of Parliament by Itself

• Parliamentary committees decentralise the workload of the House and allow detailed consideration of technical and administrative matters that full House sittings cannot manage effectively.
• Committees contribute to both law-making and oversight; they ensure that debates in the House are better informed and that executive actions are subject to sustained scrutiny.
• Rules of Procedure and special provisions in the Constitution and House rules ensure orderly functioning; Presiding Officers and committee systems are central to parliamentary control and discipline.

Importance of Parliamentary Committees in Indian Democracy

• Committees enable examination of complex and technical issues by allowing Members to interact with domain experts, civil servants and stakeholders in an informed environment.
• They solicit inputs from specialised bodies such as the National Commission for Women, professional experts and officials before finalising reports.
• Committees provide a less partisan setting than televised full-House debates; closed-door deliberations permit more candid questioning and the possibility of cross-party consensus.
• The primary aim of committees is to foster reasoned deliberation among members and to produce actionable recommendations for improving legislation, policy and governance.

Way Forward for Parliamentary Committees

• Establish new committees to address growing economic and technological complexity - for example, a Standing Committee on National Economy to undertake macroeconomic analysis and coordinate expert inputs.
• Consider a Standing Constitution Committee to scrutinise constitutional amendment bills prior to their introduction in Parliament.
• Create a Legislative Standing Committee to monitor legislative business and ensure systematic referral of key bills to Department-related Standing Committees (DRSCs).
• Ensure that critical committee reports, particularly those of the Public Accounts Committee, are debated and that government responses and implementation of recommendations are tracked and reported.
• Periodically review DRSCs (as recommended by bodies such as the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution) to replace obsolete committees and create new ones aligned with current needs.
• Revise Rules of Procedure in both Houses to make referral of important bills to DRSCs mandatory and to strengthen the role of committees in the second reading stage of legislation.
• Strengthen research support, data access and advisory capacity for committees so they can perform evidence-based scrutiny.
• Uphold and enhance the supervisory role of committees as a means of safeguarding parliamentary democracy, rather than by-passing them in the legislative process.

Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is the constitutional authority responsible for auditing the accounts of the Union and State governments and public sector organisations. The CAG plays a key role in ensuring financial accountability and transparency in public administration.

Constitutional Provisions

• The office of the CAG is established by Article 148 of the Constitution of India; Articles 149-151 prescribe the duties, powers and audit reports.
• The CAG is the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department and discharges duties as specified by the Constitution and Parliament.

Appointment, Tenure and Removal

• The CAG is appointed by the President of India.
• The term of office is determined by law; the CAG holds office for a period specified by the President (customarily, the tenure is six years or until the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier).
• Removal of the CAG follows the same procedure as for a judge of the Supreme Court, ensuring independence and security of tenure; removal can be for proven misbehaviour or incapacity and requires an address by Parliament.

Functions and Types of Audit

• Financial Audit: Verifies whether transactions are recorded reliably and accounts present a true and fair view of receipts and expenditure.
• Compliance Audit: Checks conformity of actions with authorities, rules, regulations and established procedures.
• Performance Audit (Value for Money): Examines economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public resources and outcomes of government programmes.
• The CAG audits accounts of the Union and State governments, government departments, government companies, corporations, authorities and bodies substantially financed by the government.
• The CAG also undertakes audit of receipts and expenditure of ministries, implementation of schemes, and special audits of public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies.

Reports and Presentation to Parliament

• The CAG's audit reports are submitted to the President (for Union audits) or the Governor (for State audits), who causes them to be laid before the respective legislature.
• The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and other financial committees examine CAG reports; the PAC in particular scrutinises government expenditure against Parliament's grants and recommends corrective action.
• CAG reports form the basis for parliamentary oversight and debates on fiscal accountability.

Independence and Safeguards

• Constitution guarantees such as security of tenure and a removal process similar to that of a Supreme Court judge protect the CAG's independence.
• The CAG is not subject to executive direction in discharging audit functions, which helps maintain impartiality and objectivity.

Limitations and Challenges

• Implementation of recommendations arising from CAG reports depends on executive action; delays or inadequate follow-up can blunt the impact of audit findings.
• Timeliness is a recurring challenge: time lags between audit, report submission and parliamentary examination can reduce immediacy of corrective measures.
• Emerging areas such as public-private partnerships, complex financial instruments and fast-changing technology require enhanced skills, data access and analytical capability for effective audit.

Reforms and Strengthening the CAG

• Enhance technical capacity, digital audit tools and availability of domain experts to keep pace with complex audits.
• Improve coordination between the CAG, parliamentary committees (notably the PAC) and the executive to ensure timely action on audit observations.
• Extend audit coverage and methodologies to new forms of public finance, including greater emphasis on performance audits and environmental, social and governance aspects of public programmes.

Relationship between Parliamentary Committees and the CAG

• The CAG provides factual and technical audit findings which form the evidence base for the PAC, Estimates Committee and other oversight committees.
• Parliamentary committees rely on the CAG's impartial reports to hold the executive accountable and to recommend corrective measures.
• Strengthening the linkage between audit reports, committee scrutiny and parliamentary debate is essential to improve governance and public financial management.

Conclusion

Parliamentary committees and the CAG together form the backbone of legislative oversight in India. Committees enable detailed, expert and cross-party scrutiny of bills, budgets and administration; the CAG provides the audit evidence that feeds into this scrutiny. Strengthening committee capacity, improving the timeliness and follow-up of CAG reports, and creating new specialised committees for emerging policy areas will enhance parliamentary oversight and deepen democratic accountability.