Fresh guidelines for House panels on anvil
NEW DELHI: Parliament is preparing a new guidelines for its standing committees that may include a minimum 15 days’ notice and confirmation by onethird of the members before holding a panel meeting; nomination of members based on their qualifications, interests and occupations; and at least 50% attendance while collecting evidence and adopting reports.
Standing committees are an extension of Parliament. They engage in crucial reviews of the functioning of the government, and examine important public issues. The Rajya Sabha has prepared draft guidelines after a review of the functioning of the eight standing committees under its purview. A similar exercise by the Lok Sabha for its 16 department-related panels is also going on. Once that exercise is over, common guidelines will be inked by Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
To be sure, a whole set of dos and don’ts is already available in the rule books of the two Houses. But officials involved in the discussions pointed to an urgent need to refresh the guidelines to address vital issues related to the composition, performance, and work of the panels, given how the issues under their consideration are getting increasingly complex and specialised.
The efforts to formulate fresh guidelines coincide with recent controversies over summoning Facebook officials for an IT panel meet by its chief, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, after a Wall Street Journal report about alleged favouritism by social media company towards the BJP. His decision to call Facebook officials was met with stiff resistance on the grounds that the matter was sub-judice and the summons did not have approval of other members of the panel.
On August 5, Naidu wrote to Birla, saying they should discuss various issues related to Standing Committees before revisiting the guidelines.
“I am happy to learn that you have set up a Committee of Officers in the Lok Sabha Secretariat to undertake a further and more comprehensive review of working of these Committees and to recommend suitable measures for improving their functioning so that their recommendations are oriented towards the welfare of common man. After the recommendations of this Committee of Officers are received, we may discuss the matter further before revising the guidelines,” Naidu wrote in the letter. The draft rules prepared by Upper House, which were reviewed by HT, say that “meetings of the committees shall be convened with a minimum notice period of 15 days so as to enable the members to plan their travel and attend the meetings”.