"FCRA Amendment Bill referred to Joint Parliamentary Committee for scrutiny"
Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC)
ad hoc committee with members from both Houses, constituted for a specific Bill or issue.
Department-related Standing Committee (DRSC)
permanent committee supervising a specific ministry's functioning, budget, and related Bills.
Parliamentary committees are a structural response to a fundamental constraint: the two Houses of Parliament have limited session time to examine an ever-growing body of legislation and government policy. As the NCERT Political Science text notes, Parliament meets only during sessions and has very limited time at its disposal, making in-depth study of legislation impossible on the floor of the House alone. The committee system was therefore designed to allow smaller groups of members to examine Bills clause by clause, question officials, hear expert testimony, and scrutinise government expenditure — functions that the full House cannot perform efficiently.
The philosophical foundation of the committee system, as articulated in Rajya Sabha's own literature, is captured in a precise formulation: "influence, not direct control; advise, not command; criticism, not obstruction; scrutiny, not initiative; accountability, not prior approval." This framing is important — it signals that committees are not a parallel legislature but a deliberative mechanism designed to improve the quality of legislation and hold the executive accountable without supplanting parliamentary sovereignty. The system of Department-related Standing Committees (DRSCs) has existed in its current form since 1983, with over twenty such committees supervising the work of ministries, their budgets, expenditure, and related Bills.
The referral of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) — amid Opposition and Church objections to provisions including retrospective vesting of foreign-funded assets in a government-designated authority — places this Bill within a long tradition of contested legislation receiving committee scrutiny. The FCRA itself, first enacted in 1976 and substantially amended in 2010 and 2020, has always been politically sensitive, sitting at the intersection of national security, civil society regulation, and fundamental rights.
Parliamentary committees come in several distinct forms, each with a different mandate. Department-related Standing Committees (DRSCs) are permanent bodies that examine the functioning and policies of specific ministries on an ongoing basis. Financial Committees — the Public Accounts Committee, the Estimates Committee, and the Committee on Public Undertakings — scrutinise government expenditure and financial performance. Select Committees are constituted by a single House to examine a specific Bill. A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), by contrast, draws members from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and is constituted for a specific Bill or issue — making it the most politically prominent form of ad hoc committee.
All committees share certain procedural powers: they can call for persons, papers, and records, and take evidence from officials, experts, and stakeholders. However, their recommendations are not binding on the government — this is the central structural limitation. JPC membership broadly mirrors the party composition of Parliament, which means the ruling party or alliance, holding a Lok Sabha majority, also commands a majority within the JPC. The chairperson is typically from the government benches and holds a casting vote in the event of a tie. The Opposition's tools within the committee are therefore procedural rather than determinative: demanding specific witnesses, questioning officials, placing evidence on record, proposing amendments to the draft report, and — when outvoted — filing formal dissent notes. …
In India, which of the following review the independent regulators in sectors like telecommunications, insurance, electricity, etc.?
1.Ad Hoc Committees set up by the Parliament
2.Parliamentary Department Related Standing Committees
3.Finance Commission
4.Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission
5.NITI Aayog
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
With reference to the Parliament of India, which of the following Parliamentary Committees scrutinizes and reports to the House whether the powers to make regulations, rules, sub-rules, by-laws, etc. conferred by the Constitution or delegated by the Parliament are being properly exercised by the Executive within the scope of such delegation ?
Consider the following statements about the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of the Parliament of India:
1.Although members of this Committee are elected from both Houses of Parliament, the Chairperson of this Committee is appointed by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
2.Twenty members are elected by the Rajya Sabha and ten members by the Lok Sabha.
3.No Minister, except for the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, is eligible to be a member of this Committee.
4.Members are elected for a fixed term of two years from the date they enter their office.
Which one of the following conclusions based on the above statements is correct?
Which of the following statements about the Ethics Committee in the Lok Sabha are correct?
1.Initially it was an ad-hoc Committee.
2.Only a Member of the Lok Sabha can make a complaint relating to unethical conduct of a member of the Lok Sabha.
3.This Committee cannot take up any matter which is sub-judice.
Select the answer using the code given below:
With reference to the parliamentary committee system in India, which of the following correctly describes the underlying philosophy as articulated in Rajya Sabha's literature on the subject?
Consider the following statements about Department-related Standing Committees (DRSCs) in India:
1.The DRSC system in its current form has existed since 1983.
2.DRSCs examine the functioning and policies of ministries on an ongoing basis, unlike JPCs which are constituted for a specific Bill or issue.
3.A DRSC can compel the government to incorporate its recommendations into legislation.
4.There are over twenty DRSCs currently covering different ministries.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Assertion (A): The Opposition's ability to change the final text of legislation through a Joint Parliamentary Committee is structurally limited even when it files formal dissent notes.
Reason (R): JPC membership broadly reflects the strength of parties in Parliament, giving the ruling alliance a majority within the committee and the chairperson a casting vote in the event of a tie.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above Assertion and Reason?
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