Opposition parties have slammed the government for the delay in the formation of parliamentary committees amid speculations that the BJP government may be keen on keeping many of the significant panels with itself.
According to sources, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi is holding the last round of meetings with Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The government sources claim that the notification will be out in the next few days.
In 2014, the committees were notified on September 1, less than three months after the process was started. In 2009, during the United Progressive Alliance term, it was notified on August 31. And in 2004, it was constituted by August 5.
Mr. Joshi told The Hindu that the committees’ composition had been finalised and submitted to the presiding officers of both the Houses.
The sources said Mr. Naidu had cleared the list but Mr. Birla wanted to speak to a couple of parties before taking a decision. “It's always constituted in September first week; now it's delayed by a week. We are awaiting the notification,” Mr. Joshi said.
The Congress said the delay had been unprecedented and showed the government’s wish to bypass the parliamentary processes. “This is unprecedented. More than three months after the formation of the 17th Lok Sabha, the government has failed to constitutes the committees. This shows its disdain for the parliamentary process. They want to stall any kind of scrutiny into the working of the ministries or legislations,” Lok Sabha Chief Whip for the Congress Kodikunnil Suresh said.
Mr. Joshi has formally conveyed to the Congress that the External Affairs and Finance committees will not be conceded to it. They were headed by Shashi Tharoor and Veerappa Moily respectively in the last Lok Sabha session. Deliberations and reports of both the committees had often put the government in uncomfortable position. The chairman of a panel usually sets the agenda. This time around, the Congress has renominated Mr. Tharoor for External Affairs and Manish Tewari for Finance.
It is also learnt that the government is unlikely to concede the committee on Tourism, Culture and Aviation to the Trinamool Congress. It was headed by TMC's Derek O' Brien.
“It is always decided on the basis of numerical strength and this time around too it will be done similar way,” Mr. Joshi added.
Mini Parliament
Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha said the standing committees worked on behalf of Parliament when it was not sitting. “The standing committees are called mini Parliament. It is very clear that not only do they not believe in a functioning and sensible Parliament, they also want to kill the idea of mini Parliament in the form of standing and select committees,” he observed.
CPI general secretary D. Raja said the government should explain the reasons for the delay in the constitution of the committees, “The delay helps them because this way they need not send any legislations to standing committees for any parliamentary scrutiny or analysis. This is a way to undermine the laid down procedures,” he added.
