Parliamentary Standing Committees on Ministries are constituted to perform several important duties including accountability of activities of Ministries, review of laws presented in Parliament. Parliamentary Standing Committees are formed with MPs from elected and reserved constituencies as per the Rules of Procedure on the proposal of the Chief Whip of the National Parliament with the permission of the Leader of the Parliament with one of the MPs as Chairman. In this case, the voice vote of the members of parliament is required. On the other hand, some committees are approved by the Speaker himself and announced in Parliament.
The committee consists of 10 parliamentarians including the president. In this, the minister in charge of the relevant ministry or the state minister is included as a committee member ex officio. However, if the minister is a technocrat and not a member of parliament, he cannot be a member of the committee. In this case, he participated in the committee meetings on the special invitation of the president.
All the 50 parliamentary committees of the current 12th National Parliament have already been constituted. Thirteen of those who were dropped from the cabinet of the 11th National Parliament have become presidents of parliamentary committees this time. Apart from this, 15 people have become the president of the parliamentary committee for the first time. 16 members of parliament who served as presidents of the eleventh parliamentary committee also became presidents in the twelfth parliament. However, most of them have changed ministries. This time a Jatiya Party and an independent member of parliament has become the chairman of the committee.
Status of Committee Chairman
Although there is practically no special status, there is a lot of public interest in parliamentary committees. Common people are curious about who is the chairperson of the cabinet, the deputy leader of the parliament, the chief whip and the president of the parliamentary committee among the whips. There is a lot of enthusiasm among the voters of the concerned areas, including the leaders and activists, about who has been dropped from the cabinet or who has become the president of the parliamentary committee from among the other members of parliament.
Again, there is no lack of people’s curiosity about what privileges the presidents of the parliamentary committees get, whether it is their rank or what. But in actual sense there is no separate rank for the presidents of the parliamentary committees according to the hierarchy. They enjoy the rank of Members of Parliament. Apart from this, as the President of the Parliamentary Committee, he got an officially furnished office from the Parliament Secretariat in the premises of the Parliament Building. Apart from this one gets a Personal Assistant (PS), an Office Assistant cum Computer Operator. Apart from this, he gets a monthly allowance of Tk 20,000 for office entertainment expenses.
The facilities that the presidents of the committee get
It has been learned that the parliamentary committee has demanded allocation of vehicles, fuel and drivers from the government transport pool on several occasions, but it has not been implemented. The proposal in this regard went to the ministry several times but it was rejected. Former President Md. During Abdul Hamid’s tenure as Speaker, Parliamentary Committee Chairmen were allowed to use flags bearing the Parliament logo on their vehicles. Committee presidents are still enjoying this benefit.
Besides, in view of the recommendations of the committee, when any government event is organized by the concerned ministry, the president of the parliamentary committee is invited as a special guest. In government programs held in the presence of the Prime Minister, special guests are given the opportunity to sit in the seats with special status. Besides, when the issue of any foreign trip related to the concerned ministry comes up, priority is given to the members of the committee including the chairman of the parliamentary committee.
Powers of the Committee
Parliamentary committees have no executive powers. They can only give recommendations, opinions and observations on various matters. However, their recommendations are seriously considered by the respective ministries.
Parliamentary Standing Committees play an important role in the parliamentary system. Parliamentary Standing Committees, especially ministry-related, act as ‘watchdog bodies’. Apart from playing a role in ensuring accountability of the government, the committee also engages the public in parliamentary proceedings.
These committees investigate irregularities and corruption in the activities of the ministry and give necessary recommendations and suggestions to the concerned parties for remediation. In this, the executive department is forced to answer to some extent to the national parliament or public representatives.
Article 76 of the Constitution of Bangladesh provides instructions on the formation of the Standing Committee of the National Parliament. The constitution specifically mentions the formation of two committees. That is, Government Accounts Committee and Special Rights Committee. Apart from this, the Constitution also provides for the formation of other standing committees specified in the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament. There are currently 50 parliamentary committees as per the Constitution and Rules of Procedure. Among them, 11 are parliamentary standing committees and 39 are related to ministries.
Clause (2) of Article 76 of the Constitution describes the powers and functions of the Parliamentary Committee. It said that the committee can examine draft bills and other legislative proposals subject to the constitution and any other law. May review the implementation of the Act and propose measures for implementation of the same. If the Parliament informs the Committee about a matter of public importance, it may inquire or inquire into the work or administration of any Ministry in that matter. Can arrange to collect relevant information and get oral or written answers to questions through an authorized representative from any ministry. May perform any other duties assigned by Parliament.
Committee work
The Rules of Procedure of Parliament contain detailed descriptions of the work of each committee. According to the rules, the work of the Standing Committee shall be to examine any bill or matter referred to it by the Parliament, to review the activities of the Ministry under the Committee, to investigate the activities or irregularities and serious complaints of the Ministry and if the Committee thinks fit, to examine any matter under the Committee and Provide recommendations. According to the Rules of Procedure, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministries is supposed to hold at least one meeting a month. However, nothing is said about the meeting of the committee related to the Parliament.
Earlier, only the cabinet members of the government served as presidents of the respective ministries, but during the 1996-2001 government led by the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, amendments were made to the rules of procedure. Since then, the chairman of the committee is elected from among the members of the general parliament. The Minister concerned is made an ex-officio member of the committee. Since then, the committee has been formed in this manner. Earlier, the chairman of the committee was elected from among the MPs of the government party, but from the ninth parliament, the chairman is also from other parties including the opposition party.
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