Standing committees had not been formed despite the 18th Lok Sabha completing 100 days since its constitution
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Parliament is being turned into a “deep, dark chamber,” Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien has said. To buttress his claim, he said parliamentary standing committees had not been formed despite the 18th Lok Sabha completing 100 days since its constitution.
In a post on X, O’Brien said seven out of 10 bills were sent to department-related standing committees of parliament in the 15th Lok Sabha while only two out of 10 bills were sent to the panels in the last Lok Sabha.
“Parliamentary standing committees have not yet been formed. In the 15th Lok Sabha, seven out of 10 bills were sent to committees for scrutiny. In the last Lok Sabha, only two out of 10 bills got scrutinised,” O’Brien said.
“Parliament is being turned into a deep, dark chamber,” he added.
According to data compiled by think-tank PRS Legislative Research, 16 per cent of the bills were referred to standing committees in the 17th Lok Sabha.
About 50 per cent of reports on the Bills were presented within 115 days.
O
n an average, standing committees held nine meetings to finalise reports on the bills.
Apart from the Data Protection Bill, only the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, was discussed for at least 15 meetings. The three bills to reform the country’s criminal laws were examined together over 12 meetings.
In the 16th Lok Sabha, 28 per cent of the bills were sent to parliamentary committees while 71 per cent were sent to the panels in the 15th Lok Sabha.
While a majority of the standing committees come under the Lok Sabha Secretariat, some are serviced by the Rajya Sabha.
