CHAPTER -
VIII
CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE
8.1 The
present Consultative Committees of Members of Parliament in their broad
features, owe their origin to a suggestion set out by the late Prime Minister
Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1954 in a note circulated to the Members of the
Cabinet. Shri Nehru wanted some
kind of Standing Advisory Consultative Committees of Parliament to provide
opportunity to members to have some glimpse into the working of the government
which would also have the effect of reducing the number of questions asked by
members. Accordingly, informal
consultative committees were constituted for the various ministries/departments
of the Government of India in the year 1954.
8.2
In 1969, discussions were held with leaders of opposition parties/groups
in Parliament and detailed guidelines (Appendix
X) were drawn up for constitution and functioning of these committees. It was
also decided then that these committees would be known as Consultative
Committees retaining, however, the informal nature of deliberations in these
committees. These committees have, since then, been functioning under these
guidelines.
8.3 The main features of these
committees are as follows:
i)
The membership of these committees is voluntary and is left to the choice
of the members and the leaders of their parties.
ii)
The main objective of these committees is informal consultation between
the government and the members of Parliament on the policies and programmes of
the government and the manner of implementation thereof.
iii)
The committees are chaired by the minister in-charge of the ministry to
which the committee relates.
iv)
The maximum membership of a committee is 40.
The committees are normally constituted if there are 10 or more members
who have chosen to be nominated on the committee.
v)
Members can be nominated as permanent special invitees on a consultative
committee if they have special interest in the subjects of a particular
ministry/department. A maximum of
four members can be nominated as permanent special invitees on a consultative
committee.
vi)
Meetings of these committees are held both during session periods and
inter- session periods.
vii)
Agenda items are either called from members or decided by the ministries
themselves in consultation with the members of the committee.
viii)
Members, who are not members of a committee, may be invited to the
meetings of the committee as special invitees, with the approval of the Minister
of Parliamentary Affairs, if any subject given notice of by them for
consideration in the meetings, has been included in the agenda or if they
express desire to participate in the discussion of any meeting of such
committee.
ix)
No decisions are taken by these committees.
However, where there is unanimity of view in the committee, the
government will normally accept the view, subject to certain conditions laid
down in the guidelines.
x)
Senior officers of the ministries are present at the meetings to assist
the ministers and to furnish any clarifications required.
xi)
In keeping with the informal nature of discussion at the meetings, the
guidelines make it incumbent on the members and also on the government, not to
mention on the floor of either House about anything that happens in the meetings
of these committees.
Consultative Committees
8.4
After the
general elections to the Thirteenth Lok Sabha, 30 consultative committees for
various ministries/department were constituted in January, 2000. However, due to
bifurcation of the Ministry of Coal and Mines into two ministries of: (1) Coal;
and (2) Mines on 29.01.2003, it was decided to bifurcate the Consultative
Committee for the Ministry of Coal and Mines into two consultative committees,
namely, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Coal and Consultative
Committee for the Ministry of Mines. Accordingly, the preferences from members
of the erstwhile Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Coal and Mines were
called for nomination on the proposed committees. As all the Members gave their
preferences for nomination on Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Coal,
the Consultative Committee for Ministry of Coal and Mines was notified, with the
then existing members, as Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Coal. But
consequent upon the Ministry of Mines being made a part of the Ministry of Coal
and Mines on 9.01.2004, the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Coal was
renamed as the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Coal and Mines.
8.5
At the time of dissolution of the 13th Lok Sabha on 6.02.2004,
there were 30 consultative committees for various ministries/departments as
indicated in Appendix - 'XI'. The details regarding the meetings of these
committees held during the period under report and important subjects discussed
therein are given in Appendix-'XII.
Sub-committees/Study
Groups of Consultative Committees
8.6
The consultative
committees set up sub-committees/study groups for the purpose of going into any
particular aspect of the working of the concerned ministry. The
sub-committees/study groups submit their reports for consideration of the
committee.
8.7
The following five sub-committees of the Consultative Committee for the
Ministry of Civil Aviation were constituted on 6.1.2003 for a term of three
months to identify the problems/issues of the five organisations under the
control of that ministry and suggest measures to deal with them:
(1)
Sub-committee
for Air India Limited.
(2)
Sub-committee
for Airports Authority of India.
(3)
Sub-committee
for Indian Airlines Limited.
(4)
Sub-committee
for Hotel Corporation of India Limited.
(5)
Sub-committee
for Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited.
As an exceptional case, the tenure of these five
sub-committees was extended for a period of three months upto 5.7.2003. The
tenure of the two sub-committees: (i) Air India Limited; and (ii) Hotel
Corporation of India Limited, was further extended for a period of another three
months upto October 5, 2003.
8.8
The position of meetings of the sub-committees of the Consultative
Committee for the Ministry of Civil Aviation held during the period under report
is as under:
Sub-committee for Air India Ltd.
Number
of meetings :
3
Dates
of meetings
: 4.3.2003, 28.3.2003 (Mumbai), 24-25.6.2003 (Mumbai).
Sub-committee for Airports Authority of India
Number
of meeting
: 1
Date
of meeting
: 25.2.2003.
Sub-committee for Indian Airlines Ltd.
Number of meetings
: 4
Dates of meetings
: 4.3.2003, 26.3.2003, 27.6.2003, 5.7.2003.
Sub-committee for Hotel Corporation of India Ltd.
Number
of meetings :
2
Dates
of meetings
: 29.4.2003, 1.10.2003
Sub-committee for Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd.
Number of meetings
: 2
Dates of meetings
: 13.5.2003, 30.6.2003
Informal
Consultative Committees of Railway Zones
8.9
Separate informal consultative committees (ICCs) of members of
Parliament are constituted for all the railway zones. Members of Parliament
belonging to the area falling under a particular railway zone are nominated on
the informal consultative committee of that railway zone.
8.10
The discussion at the meetings of these committees are purely informal.
Members are at liberty to raise any points relating to the working of
railway in their zones.
8.11
The meetings of these committees are held only during the session
periods. No TA/DA is required to be paid to Members of Parliament for attending
the meetings of the informal consultative committees. The meetings of the
following informal consultative Committees were held during the period under
report:
ICC for
Railway Zones
Date of meeting
i) Northeast
Frontier Railway Zone
10.12.2003
ii) Central Railway Zone
17.12.2003
Meetings/Visits of
Consultative Committees Outside Delhi
Meetings
8.12
One meeting of a consultative committee in a year can be held outside
Delhi, anywhere in India, during an inter-session period. During the period under report, meetings of the consultative
committees of the following Ministries were held outside Delhi:
S.No. Name
of Ministry
Date and place of
meeting
(i)
Food Processing Industries
20.1.2003 at Mysore
(ii)
Health & Family Welfare
22 & 23.1.2003 at Lakshdweep
(iii)
Youth Affairs and Sports
1.2.2003 at Patiala
(iv)
Agriculture
6.2.2003 at Mysore
(v)
Steel
7.2.2003 at Vishakhapatnam
(vi)
Defence
10.2.2003 at Jabalpur
(vii)
Home Affairs
8.3.2003 at Takenpur
(During
recess period of Budget Session)
(viii)
Petroleum & Natural Gas
14.5.2003 at Mangalore
(ix)
Tourism and Culture
13.6.2003 at Siliguri
(x)
Environment & Forests
4.7.2003 at Goa
(xi)
Power
6.7.2003 at Gangtok
(xii)
Civil Aviation
12.7.2003 at Mumbai
(xiii)
Chemicals and Fertilizers
16.10.2003 at Mohali
(xiv)
Rural Development
17.10.2003 at Srinagar
(xv)
Road Transport and Highways
15.11.2003 at Pune
Visits
8.13 The Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Steel visited Bhillai and Rourkela Steel Plants from September 3 to 5, 2003.
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