Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
Parliamentary Committees
"Small groups of MPs that scrutinise legislation, budgets and administration in detail on Parliament's behalf."
Parliamentary Committees are panels of Members of Parliament that examine bills, budgets, policies and the working of ministries in detail, functioning as a mini-Parliament that eases the workload of the full House. They are broadly of two types: Standing Committees, which are permanent and reconstituted regularly (such as the Department-Related Standing Committees and the Financial Committees), and Ad Hoc Committees set up for a specific task, such as Select or Joint Committees on particular bills. They derive authority from Articles 105 and 118 and the Rules of Procedure.
GS2 (Parliament, legislature, accountability). Prelims tests the types of committees, the three Financial Committees (Public Accounts, Estimates and Public Undertakings) and the 24 Department-Related Standing Committees. Mains uses them to discuss legislative scrutiny and executive accountability. Anchor: the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the One Nation One Election bills, active through 2026, is a prominent example of an ad hoc committee at work.
- 1 Panels of MPs that scrutinise laws, budgets and administration
- 2 Two broad types: Standing Committees and Ad Hoc Committees
- 3 Three Financial Committees: Public Accounts, Estimates, Public Undertakings
- 4 24 Department-Related Standing Committees examine ministries
- 5 Public Accounts Committee is chaired by convention by an Opposition MP
- 6 Derive authority from Articles 105 and 118 and House rules
The Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the One Nation One Election bills, which toured states through 2026, exemplifies how ad hoc parliamentary committees deepen legislative scrutiny.
