Question

Which one among the following Committees of the Parliament of India has no members of the Rajya Sabha?
A.Public Accounts Committee
B.Estimates Committee
C.Public Undertaking Committee
D.Departmentally related Standing Committee on Finance

Answer 1

Hint: The Parliament works mainly through its committees because its large strength usually makes it ill-organised for effective legislative work. 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. 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.

Complete answer:
Option A: is incorrect. The Public Accounts Committee is a standing committee which examines the reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. The Committee has 22 members out of which 15 are elected from the Lok Sabha and 7 members are elected from the Rajya Sabha.
Option B: is correct. The Estimates Committee is tasked with examining the estimates included in the budget presented in the parliament. It is a standing committee categorised under financial committees. The Committee has 30 members, all of whom are taken from the Lok Sabha.
Option C: is incorrect. The responsibility of the Public Undertakings Committee is to examine the reports and accounts of Public Sector Undertakings. Similar to the Public Accounts Committee, this committee also has 22 members out of which 15 are elected from the Lok Sabha and 7 members are elected from the Rajya Sabha.
Option D: is incorrect. The Departmentally related standing committee on finance has 31 members out of which 21 are from the Lok Sabha and 10 are from the Rajya Sabha.

Thus, The correct answer is Option B.

Note: 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. The ex-officio Chairman of the Lok Sabha subcommittees and the joint committees is the Speaker of the Lok Sabha while the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha subcommittees is the Vice-President.