The Rajya Sabha Secretariat is mulling over amending the rules governing the standing committees’ tenure.
- It is being considered to make it two years from the present one so that the panels have enough time to work on the subjects selected by them.
- The tenure of all standing committees end on September 11, and they can’t hold deliberations till new panels are formed.
- Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu is in favour of amending the rules to give a fixed two-year tenure. However, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has to agree to it.
- Two options are being looked at: one, to extend the term of the panels for a year, and second, to form new committees with a fixed tenure of two years.
- Many chairpersons of the current panels have felt that a significant amount of the tenure of their committees was lost due to the pandemic.
- By their nature, Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds: Standing Committees and Ad hoc Committees. Standing Committees are permanent and regular committees which are constituted from time to time in pursuance of the provisions of an Act of Parliament or Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business.
- Committees on Estimates, Public Accounts and Public Undertakings are some of the Standing committees.
(Source: The Hindu)
