Parliamentary Committees: PAC, Estimates, DRSCs, and the Ones UPSC Loves

India's Parliament sits for barely 60-70 days a year. Bills get passed in hours. Budgets are approved in 20 minutes. The real scrutiny happens in committees - smaller groups of MPs who examine bills clause by clause, question ministers, audit government spending, and investigate public enterprises. The three financial committees (PAC, Estimates, Public Undertakings) are constitutionally significant and regularly tested by UPSC.

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[TOPIC CLASSIFICATION]

Topic type: Constitutional Law / Parliament / Polity PYQ frequency: High. 2-3 questions per year combined. Exam stage relevance: Prelims + Mains Primary GS Paper: GS 2

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[EXAMINER REASONING]

1. Trap: Which committee examines the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) reports? Public Accounts Committee (PAC), NOT the Estimates Committee. Estimates Committee examines budget estimates (future spending); PAC examines appropriation accounts (past spending audited by CAG).

2. Most confused: PAC membership composition - Lok Sabha members only, or Rajya Sabha too? Both. PAC has members from both Houses (22 total: 15 LS + 7 RS). BUT Estimates Committee is only Lok Sabha (30 members).

3. Key anchor: DRSCs (Departmentally Related Standing Committees) cover all ministries across 24 committees. Each has members from both Houses. They examine demands for grants and bills referred to them.

4. Current affairs hook: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance examined the Jan Vishwas Bill, the Data Protection Bill (later withdrawn and revised), and multiple budget demands. These committees are increasingly active in pre-legislative scrutiny.

5. Mains hinge: "Parliamentary committees strengthen legislative oversight but their recommendations are not binding on the government." Examine.

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Core Concept

Parliamentary committees are of two types:

1. Standing Committees (permanent, reconstituted annually)
2. Ad Hoc Committees (formed for specific purpose, dissolved after)

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Three Financial Committees

Public Accounts Committee (PAC)

• Members: 22 (15 Lok Sabha + 7 Rajya Sabha)
• Chairperson: Elected from Lok Sabha - convention is Leader of Opposition or senior opposition member
• Function: Examines appropriation accounts and CAG's audit reports. Post-mortem function - reviews how money was spent.
• Examines: Whether money was spent as authorised by Parliament, within sanctioned amounts, for the purpose voted
• Does NOT examine policy (government can refuse to provide certain info on policy grounds)