Question

Who is the ex-officio chairman of the Parliamentary sub-committees?
A.President
B.Vice-President
C.Prime Minister
D.Speaker

Answer 1

Hint: The Constitution does not create parliamentary committees but they are acknowledged by it in Art 105 in connection with parliamentary privileges. Both houses have committees of their own which are known as select committees and there are also joint committees with members of both houses.

Complete answer: The Indian legislative system is a bicameral one which means that there are two houses at the centre—the Lok Sabha or the House of People and the Rajya Sabha or the Council of States. The Parliament works mainly through its committees because its large strength usually makes it ill-organised for effective legislative work.
Let's see options one by one :
Option A: is incorrect. The President is not a sitting member in either Houses of the Parliament. It is the Prime minister who functions as the link between the Parliament and the President.
Option B: is incorrect. The Vice-President is the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Option C: is incorrect. The Prime Minister heads the Council of Ministers.
Option D: is correct. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha is the ex-officio chairman of all Lok Sabha sub-committees. All appointments to these committees are made by the Speaker. In the case of joint committees, the Speaker has the power to appoint the chairman to those committees.

Note: There are two kinds of Parliamentary committees—Ad hoc Committees and Standing Committees. Ad hoc Committees are appointed for a specific purpose after which they cease to exist while Standing Committees are permanent in nature. The term of the members of the committees are generally one year or as per the resolution of the House that has created the committee. The function of Parliamentary committees may vary according to their nature and purpose but they carry out detailed scrutiny of expenditure, administration, policy and proposed bills of the Cabinet.