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.

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