Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
India has adopted parliamentary form of democracy and
the two words Parliamentary and Democracy are important
features of our Political System. The term Parliamentary refers
specifically to a kind of democratic polity wherein the supreme
power vests in the body of peoples representatives called
Parliament. The Parliamentary system is one in which the
Parliament enjoys a place of primacy in the governance of the
State. Under the Constitution of India, the Union Legislature is
called Parliament; it is the pivot on which the political system
of the country revolves. Democracy implies the right of the
people to self determination and faith in the rationality and
ingenuity of the human mind. In a democracy the people are
their own masters.1 In a Parliamentary system of Government,
the

executive

is

directly

responsible

to

the

elected

representatives of the people.2 There are three organs of the

Government in India: (i) Legislature, (ii) Executive and (iii)
Judiciary. The Legislature consists of two Houses, namely the
Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. It is responsible for framing
the law of the land and formulating the policies in regard to the
manner in which the country is to be governed.3 The second

Subhash C. Kashyap, Our Parliament: An Introduction to the Parliament of India,

National Book Trust, New Delhi, 2001, pp.22-23.
2 R.B. Jain, The Indian Parliament: Innovations, Reforms and Development, South
Asia Books, India, 1976, p.17.
3 M.P. Jain, Indian Constitutional Law, 3rd ed., N.M. Tripathi, Bombay, 1978, p.11.
1

organ namely, the Executive, consist of the President as the

Constitutional head and the Prime Minister with his Council of
Ministers is responsible to the Parliament for ensuring that the
administration of the country is carried on in accordance with
the policies laid down by the Parliament.4 The third organ
Judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India, which is the
highest court in the land with original, appellate and advisory
jurisdiction and is the final interpreter of the Constitution. In
order that justice may be meted out to the people without any
fear and favour, judiciary is playing an important role
independent of the other two organs.5 The Parliamentary
system

has

often

been

described

as

Government

by

Committees.6 The enormous range and complexity of legislation

and administrative functions of a modern state make it almost
impossible

for

the

Legislature

to

adequately

scrutinise

legislative proposals and oversee the executive action in the

various fields of administration. The task devolved upon the
Legislatures in modern times is too diverse and multi
dimensional to be accomplished by it within the limited time
available to it.7 During the years in which the Indian Parliament
has functioned as a sovereign body, there has been remarkable

J.N. Pandey, Constitutional Law of India, 3rd ed., Central Law Agency, Allahabad,
1998, p.346.
5 P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution of India, Universal Law Publishing Co., Delhi, 2000,
pp.127-131.
6 Dipak B.R. Chaudhuri, Aspects of Parliament and Government in India, Rachna
Prakashan, New Delhi, 1972, p.60.
7 B. Goswami, The Indian Parliamentary Scene, Pointer Publishers, Jaipur, 1994,
p.77.
4

development in Parliamentary practices and procedure. A

noteworthy part of these developments has been in the
direction of Parliamentary Committees. It is true that a
legislature may be known by the Committees it keeps. It is
reasonable to expect that financial committees in particular
have a special importance. The House of the People is not as
large as the House of Commons (and, of course, the State
Assemblies are much smaller), but it is still too big and two
inexpert a body to be able, as a whole House, to exert any
effective financial control over the Government.8 The Parliament
has various devices for exercising proper control over the
executive wing, one of the most important being the financial
control. The Executive cannot normally incurs expenditure
without obtaining the sanction of the Parliament.9 Every year
before the new financial year commences, the Parliament has to
vote the budget which authorizes the Government to incur
expenditure. As the time interval between the presentation of
the budget and passing the same is small, it is obvious that the
Parliament

cannot

study

the

budget

thoroughly

before

sanctioning the same. During budget discussion, it can only

indicate and formulate certain broad policies in accordance
with which the administration is to be carried on.10 Even

W.H. Morris-Jones, Parliament in India, Longmans, Green and Co., London,

1957, p.279.
9 Rumki Basu, Public Administration: Concepts and Theories, Sterling Publishers,
New Delhi, 1994, p.326.
10 H.N. Trivedi, The Estimates Committee at Work, First Parliament 1952-1957: A
Souvenir, Lok Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi, p.74.
8

otherwise, the legislative business before the Parliament

throughout the year is so heavy that it cannot devote sufficient
time to a detailed scrutiny of the budget. In order, therefore to
enable

the

Parliament

to

make

proper

scrutiny

of

the

expenditure that is incurred by the Government, the system of

Parliamentary Committee has been evolved.11 The workload in
both the Houses of Parliament has so much increased that it
cannot

cope

with

that

under

any

circumstances.

The

Committees of British Parliament have been termed as Mini

Parliament and the Committees of American Congress are
known as Parliaments workshop. The Committees of a House
are as important as the House itself. Thus Woodrow Wilson
called his government as Government by the Committees.12
Parliamentary committees figure in most countries of the world
increasingly serving as the main organising centre of both
legislation and Parliamentary oversight of government.13 The
growth of centrality of the Committees has occurred not only in
some Parliaments, but appears to be a global phenomenon.14
Different types of committees have been set up in the Lok
Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
A.T. Philip and K.H. Sivaji Rao, Indian Government and Politics, Sterling
Publishers, Jullundur, 1981, p.128.
12 S.A. Palekar, Committee System in American Congress, U.C. Agarwal (ed.),
Indian Journal of Public Administration, The Indian Institute of Public
Administration, No. 4, Vol. XLIX, October-December 2003, p.71.
13 Nizam Ahmed, Parliamentary Committees and Government Accountability-Role
of Departmentally Related Committees, The Indian Journal of Public
Administration, The Indian Institute of Public Administration, No. 1, Vol. XLVI,
January-March 2000, p.50.
14 L. Longley and A. Agh (eds.), The Changing Role of Parliamentary Committees,
Appleton Research Committee on Legislative Specialists, 1997, p.3.
11

The committee system in Indian Parliament has come to

stay as an integral part for smooth transactions of the business
of the House.15 It is accepted that without such system, it will
almost be impossible for any legislative body to finish the
volume of work which it is required to handle.16 The enormous
volume of work which comes before a legislature and a limited
time at its disposal for its consideration make it impossible that
every matter should be considered at length on the floor of the
House.17 The Parliament discusses policies but unless there are
committees which can discuss in detail and where those who
run the administration have to give evidence, where matters
can be thoroughly examined. Parliaments control tends to be
feeble.
Meaning of the Committee
The word Committee finds its origin from French word
Commiax which means Trust. Hence in the usage of
Parliament or other Legislative Assemblies the word has come
to signify one or more members of legislative body into whose
hands a matter under discussion is placed for investigation and
report.18
A committee is not an easy thing to define. The basic
concept is a group of people sitting round a table discussing
something. It is:
Op. cit., n 6, p.60.
Hans Raj, Indian Political System, Surjeet Publications, New Delhi, 2004, p.310.
17 B.B. Jena, Parliamentary Committees in India, Scientific Book Agency, Calcutta,
1966, p.1.
16 Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1957, p.814.
15
16

A body of people meeting round a table, to take decisions

for joint action on behalf of some other (generally larger) body of
which is the Committee.19
It is appointed or elected to consider or investigate to take
action in regard to certain matters or subjects, or to do all of
these things. The Committees differ enormously in their size,
composition, frequency of meetings, in the manner of their
setting up, in their purpose and objectives and in their rules of
procedure.
Definitions of Committee
According to H.M. Robert: A Committee is a body of one
or more persons appointed or elected by an Assembly or Society
to consider or investigate or take action in regard to certain
matters or subjects or to do all these things.20
According to Oxford English Dictionary: A body of (two or
more persons appointed or elected by a society, corporation,
public meeting, etc.) for some special business or function.21
K.C. Wheare states, A notion of committee carries with it
the idea of a body being in some manner or degree responsible
or subordinate or answerable in the last resort to the body or
the person who sets it up or committed a power or duty to it.22

Edger and Anstey, Committees: How They Work and How to Work Them, George
Allen and Unwin, London, 1962, p.13.
20 Promila Suri, Growth of Committee System in the Central Legislature in India
(1920-47), New Delhi, p.36.
21 J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner, The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed., Vol. III,
Cham-Creeky, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1991, p.561.
22 K.C. Wheare, Government by Committees, Oxford University Press, London,
1955, p.6.
19

According to the Dictionary of Social Science, The term

committee denotes a body of persons charged with some
specific function or functions.23
According to Webster New World Dictionary, A committee
is a body appointed or elected for some special business,
usually from some larger body.24
According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary, A body of
persons appointed for special function by a larger body.25
According to R. Pattanayak, The group of members of
some deliberative or decision-making body. They are charged
with carrying out investigatory work on some issues or dealing
with matters of detail under broad lines agreed by the whole
body.26
It can be said that a Committee is a device for study in
detail. A Committee is a group of people, appointed by some
other larger body to meet and discuss the matters within some
specified field of reference with a view to make group decisions
or recommendations to the parent body. Committees provide a
valuable forum for gathering consensus and for passing
legislative proposals through a sieve of scrutiny. According to
Thomas Read, Committees are the eyes, ears and hands of

Julicis Gould and William L. Kals (eds.), A Dictionary of Social Sciences, The
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1965, p.106.
24 Websters Encyclopaedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language,
Portland House, New York, 1989, p.296.
25 J.B. Spykes, The Concise Oxford Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Delhi,
1976, p.203.
26 R. Pattanayak Anmols Dictionary of Public Administration, Anmol Publications,
New Delhi, p.73.
23

Legislature and sometimes these become the brain of the house

also.27
The Parliament control over the national finance acts as a
key instrument in enforcing accountability of the executive to
the legislature a basic ingredient of democratic polity.28
Effective financial control involves scrutiny into the details of
estimates and accounts, but the house itself is not a suitable
body for going into minute details.29 Effective parliament
control over the governmental expenditure requires that, first
the parliament should satisfy itself that the appropriation have
been utilized economically for the approved purposes within the
framework of the grants; and secondly, it should undertake a
detailed examination of the annual budget estimates of the
government

to

suggest

possible

economies

in

the

implementation of the plans and programmes embodied

therein.30
Classifications of Committees
Articles 105 and 194 which deal with the privileges of
members of Union Legislature and of the State Legislature
respectively,

indirectly

recognise

the

institutions

of

Herman Finer, Theory and Practice of Modern Government, Surjeet Publications,

Delhi, 1977, p.497.
28 B.P. Mathur, Governance Reform for Vision India, Macmillan India, Delhi, 2005,
p.236.
29 A.R. Mukerjea, Parliamentary Procedure in India, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press,
Calcutta, 1983, p.328.
30 R.K. Arora, Public Administration in India: Continuity and Change, Rajat
Publications, New Delhi, 2006, p.258.
27

Parliamentary Committees.31 The Committees are, however,

constituted under Article 118 and 208 of the Constitution,
which empowers each House of Parliament or a House of State
Legislature, respectively to make rules for regulating its
procedure and conduct of business, subject to the provisions of
the Constitution.32
Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds;33 adhoc or
temporary committees, and standing or regular committees.
The adhoc or temporary committees are those committees
which are appointed for a specific purpose and they wind up
themselves as soon as their work is over. Select Committees on
Bills fall in this category.34 In this group there are also
committees appointed by the House to enquire into a given
occurrence,

incident

or

matter.

Standing

or

Regular

Committees functions under the Rules of Procedure and

conduct of business for performing specific functions and
reconstitute generally every year either by election or by the
House or nomination by the Speaker. They are relatively
permanent in their tenure. They deal with specific business.35
These include practically all Committees of the House other
than Select Committees on Bills, notable among them are the
Verinder Grover, Legislative Council in State Legislatures, Deep and Deep
Publications, New Delhi, 1990, p.164.
32 R.N. Aggarwala, Financial Committees of Indian Parliament, S. Chand and
Company, New Delhi, 1966, p.7.
33 Subhash C. Kashyap, Parliaments of the Commonwealth, Lok Sabha Secretariat,
1st ed., New Delhi, 1986, p.77.
34 B.L. Fadia, Indian Government and Politics, Sahitya Bhawan Publications, Agra,
2007, p.328.
35 R.C. Swarankar, Political Elite: A Sociological Study of Legislators in Rajasthan,
Rawat Publication, Jaipur, 1988, pp.193-194.
31

Financial Committees (i.e., the Public Accounts Committees,

the Committee on Estimates and the Committee on Public
Undertakings), the Committee on Subordinate Legislation,
Petitions

Committee,

the

Committee

on

Government

Assurances, the Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes, the Committee on Papers laid on the Table
etc. are fallen under Scrutiny Committees. Standing Committee
constituted to suggest arrangement of the work of the House
and the amenities and facilities for the members and to assist
the House in its working. Rules Committee, Business Advisory
Committee, Committee on Absence of the Members from the
Sittings of the House, Committee on Private Members Bill and
Resolutions are categorised as Advise Committees. The House
Committee,

Library

Committee,

Joint

Committee

on

the

Salaries and Allowances of the Members of Parliament, and

General Purpose Committee fall in the Service Committee.36 In
the Lok Sabha, the General Purpose Committee, House
Committee

and

Library

Committee

are

categorised

as

Committees not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure and there

are separate Rules for them.37 Similarly, there is a separate
provision for Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of
Members of Parliament.38 Petitions Committee and Committee
on privileges categorised as Enquiry Committee.

36
37
38

Op. cit., n 7, p.79.

Appendix II to the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha.
Appendix III to the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha.

10

The

system

of

functioning

through

Parliamentary

Committee is useful particularly in dealing with matters of a

special and technical nature in a better way rather than by the
House itself. It is thus seen that much of the business of
Parliament is nowadays done through committees. This doesnt
mean that Parliament has abandoned its duties and entrusted
its responsibilities to the others.39
It entrusts the work of detailed examination to committees
and reserves to itself the ultimate action to be taken. The main
reason for the origin of committee is that it can discuss every
aspect of the subject-matter minutely and with accuracy. To
make available the required expert opinion and through
knowledge of the subject-matter, more elaborate and detailed
discussion as compared with that in the House is possible.
Committee work is the training school in which members
prepare

for

executive

duties

in

the

larger

organization.

Committees provide the best opportunity for testing and

proving ability to work and to lead.40
Significance of the Study
The
Democracy

significance
can not

of
be

Committee
over

in

emphasized.

parliamentary
The

Financial

Committees play a very important role as the watch dog of the

Assembly.

The

Financial

Committees

bring

to

light

Jeevan Nair and U.C. Jain, Indian Parliament Privileges, Powers and Functions,
Pointer Publishers, Jaipur, 2000, p.29.
40 Alice F. Sturgis, Parliamentary Procedure, McGraw Hill Book Company Inc.,
London, 1950, p.116.
39

11

inefficiencies, waste and indiscretion in the implementation of

policies and programmes approved by the Assembly. The
Committees have become an integral part of Parliament
because of its unique importance. Today, no legislature can
imagine to function without the aid of Committees. The purpose
of the Committee is to bring efficiency in work when the
Parliament

is

in

session,

the

Committees

are

busy

in

considering the bills in their rooms. It helps in passing the laws

early and the other benefit of the Committee is to save the time
of the House and thus the House devotes its time on other
important tasks. There is a possibility of thorough discussion
on any subject in its Committees because they have ample time
at their disposal and the number of members is quite less, so
every subject can be given proper consideration in the
Committees. Discussion in the Committees are above party
politics and the good views of the opposition parties are readily
accepted. The Committees collect knowledge from various
sources and put it before the Parliament which increases the
knowledge of the other members of the Parliament. It also
affords a very useful opportunity to give varied experience and
ability to members which may otherwise run waste in the
House. It provides increased efficiency to administration
coupled with economy of time. The study of Committee system
is also an important part of the study of the functioning of
Parliamentary system. The Committees are very useful and

12

important part of governmental process. They are necessary

means of smooth and efficient working of legislative bodies.
Scope of the Study
No doubt a lot of work has already been done on
Legislative Committees and Committee on Welfare of Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, but no work
has been done on Estimates Committee. The present study A
Study of Parliamentary Committee System in India with special
reference to Estimates Committee in Punjab is an endeavour to
analyse the working and performance of Estimates Committee
in Punjab from 1992-2007.
Review of Literature
D.N. Gadhok in his book, Parliamentary Control over
Government Expenditure41 has discussed the two financial
committees i.e. Public Accounts Committee and the Estimates
Committee of Parliament. He holds that both the Committees
have played a vital role in the subject of financial propriety and
have also created a consciousness in them for economical and
prudent spending. He suggests that the Estimates Committee
should appoint a sub-committee to examine the Supplementary
Estimates before they are submitted to the House. He further
suggests that if the value of the Committees labour is not to be
lost, the Committee will have to devise a suitable machinery to
watch the implementation of the recommendations on which
D.N. Gadhok, Parliamentary Control over Government Expenditure, Sterling
Publishers, New Delhi, 1976.
41

13

the Government has promised to initiate actions. He suggests

that the report of these committees should be discussed on the
floor of the House.
B.B. Jena in his book, Parliamentary Committees in
India42 discusses the concept of various Committees of Indian
Parliament. He has also given suggestions for making the
Estimates Committee more powerful and efficient, so that it
could serve as a useful machinery to control the public purse.
The author discusses the importance of Committee system in
recent times. As the Houses consist of a large number of
members and the problems have increased in number and
complexity, the delegation of certain of their powers to the
Committees has become a normal practice. The author has also
trued to find out the basic differences of the approach of those
committees in India and United Kingdom.
R.N. Aggarwala in his book, Financial Committees of the
Indian Parliament (A Study in Parliamentary Control over
Public Expenditure)43 describes the financial committees of the
Indian Parliament with a special emphasis on their working for
14 years, i.e., from 1950-51 to 1963-64. The Financial
Committees are the instruments of Parliamentary control over
public expenditure in India. The work of these Committees has
acquired a special significance in the present day conditions of
B.B. Jena, Parliamentary Committees in India, Scientific Book Agency, Calcutta,
1966.
43 R.N. Aggarwala, Financial Committees of the Indian Parliament (A Study in
Parliamentary Control over Public Expenditure), S. Chand and Co., Delhi, 1966.
42

14

India. The problem is to study, in what manner, and how far,

the financial Committees of the Indian Parliament have
succeeded in exercising the necessary vigilance and supervision
over public funds, as instruments of Parliamentary control. The
author also suggested that the Estimates Committee should
submit the report to the House before the estimates are actually
voted upon by the Parliament. The author is against the
discussion of the reports of the Committees on the floor of the
House. He also finds that the investigation of the Committees
act

as

deterrent

on

the

officers

engaged

in

spending

Government money.
Mohan

Prasad

Shrivastava

and

Kanchan

Prasad

Shrivastava in the their book, Parliament and Financial

Committees44 have examined that Parliamentary Committees
play an important and useful role in the working of Parliament
all over the world. The book is essentially an offbeat effort at
critically analysing the Parliamentary accountability of public
enterprises through Parliamentary Committees in a global
perspective. He also discusses the evolution of Parliamentary
Committee,

i.e.,

Estimates

Committee,

Public

Accounts

Committee and Committee on Public Undertakings.

Udai Narain in his book, Parliamentary Control of Public
Administration

in

India45

describes

some

aspects

of

Mohan Prasad Shrivastava and Kanchan Prasad Shrivastava, Parliament and

Financial Committees, Anmol Publications, New Delhi, 1999.
45 Udai Narain, Parliamentary Control of Public Administration in India, Chugh
Publications, Allahabad, 1981.
44

15

Parliamentary control of public administration. The aspects are

policies, activities, organisation, finance and operation of the
Union

administration.

These

have

been

undertaken

for

examining the effectiveness of Parliamentary procedure and

thereby for assessing the role of Parliament as the means of
democratic deficiencies.
S.L. Shakdher and M.N. Kaul wrote a book on Practice
and

Procedure

of

Parliament

in

India46

deal

with

the

Parliamentary Committees in India. It discusses the functions

and

working

procedure

of

the

Estimates

Committee.

It

describes that Parliamentary democracy has no one patent,

static, universal form. Parliament like the democracies differs
from country to country. Parliamentary procedure is a living
organism which grows and develops to meet new situations or
suit new conditions.
Verinder Grover (ed.) in his book, Government Structure,
Political Process and Administration in India47 discusses the
governmental structure at the centre as well as the states. The
author also discusses about the Parliamentary control over
governmental
towards

policies

Parliament.

and
He

how

executive

emphasizes

that

is

accountable

there

are

two

objectives of financial control: 1) Regularity and 2) Economy.

Regularity means spending the money for the approved
S.L. Shakdher and M.N. Kaul, Practice and Procedure of Parliament in India,
Metropolitan Book Co., New Delhi, 1968.
47 Verinder Grover, Government Structure, Political Process and Administration in
India, Deep and Deep Publications, New Delhi, 1994.
46

16

purposes and with the sanction of the duly constituted

authority. Economy means getting full value for money spent.
The aspect of control is looked after by the executive wing of the
Government and more particularly by the Finance Ministry.
N.N. Mallya in his article, Parliament Surveillance of
Administration: The Role of Committees, Particularly Financial
Committees48 elaborates that, under our Constitution, the
Parliament, representing the sovereignty of the people, is
supreme and that the cabinet is a mere Committee of the House
or carrying its dictates and behests.
Parliamentary Practices in India49 has been written by
S.L. Shakdher in which he describes that our Parliamentary
procedure is the proto-type of the procedure obtaining in the
British House of Commons. Though there is similarity between
the two systems in matters of broad principles, there is wide
difference in detail and actual working. In this book, the author
makes a comparative study of Parliamentary procedure in U.K.
and India.
In his work Indian Administration50 N. Jayapalan briefly
deals

with

the

Parliamentary

Committees

in

India.

He

elaborates the composition, function and working of the

N.N. Mallya, Parliament Surveillance of Administration: The Role of Committees,

Particularly Financial Committees, Journal of Constitutional and Parliamentary
Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3, July-September 1962.
49 S.L. Shakdher, Parliamentary Practices in India, Research Publication Social
Sciences, Delhi, 1977.
50 N. Jayapalan, Indian Administration, Atlantic Publishers, Vol. 2, New Delhi,
2001.
48

17

Estimates Committee which is quite relevant for the present

work.
Financial Committees at State Level51 has been written
by Anil Minhas, Amrik Singh, Gurbax Ram Chumber and
Sanjeev Chanana. This book deals with the comprehensive
study of Financial Committees at state level. The book presents
the

composition,

functions,

working

procedure

and

recommendations of different Committees. The significance of

Committee system in a Parliamentary democracy cannot be
over-emphasised. The system of Financial Committees are one
of the important pillars of financial administration. Therefore,
there is every need that these Committees should function
efficiently.
Verinder Grover in his book, The Constitution of India:
Political and Constitution of India - Vol. II52 deals with the need
and importance of committee system in India. He has given the
reason which led to the origin and growth of Parliamentary
Committees which is quite useful in second chapter.
The book Select Constitutions53 written by Anup Chand
Kapur attempts to explain the working of the governmental
system as obtainable in England, United States of America,
Switzerland, USSR and India. Efforts have also been made to

Anil Minhas, Amrik Singh, Gurbax Ram Chumber and Sanjeev Chanana,
Financial Committees at State Level, Asia Publishing House, Chandigarh, 1990.
52 Verinder Grover, The Constitution of India: Political System and Constitution of
India-2, Deep and Deep Publications, New Delhi, 1999.
53 Anup Chand Kapur, Select Constitutions, S. Chand and Company, New Delhi,
1999.
51

18

make

the

comparative

study

of

forms,

structure

and

organisation of modern constitutional government.

M.N.

Kauls

book,

Parliamentary

Institutions

and

Procedures54 covers almost every procedural and organisational

aspects of legislatures. There have been a tremendous advance
in

Parliamentary

procedure

since

independence.

In

the

Parliament of independent India, two tasks came to be of

primary importance, the building up of an efficient secretariat
and the evolving of sound procedures. The author also
highlights the evolution of Parliament and Parliamentary
practices.
Subhash

C.

Kashyap

in

his

pioneer

work

Our

Parliament55 deals with the utility, the structure, functions and

importance of Parliamentary Committees in India. It also
provides the basic information about the functioning and
working of Parliament.
Ramesh K. Arora and Rajni Goyal in their book, Indian
Public Administration Institutions and Issues56 highlights the
key

issue

areas

of

civil

service

recruitment,

training,

accountability and the wider area of administrative reforms.

The foregoing analysis provides a survey of the major
instruments of Parliamentary control over public expenditure. It
is evident that the system involving the process of such control
M.N. Kaul, Parliamentary Institutions and Procedures, National Publishing
House, New Delhi, 1978.
55 Subhash C. Kashyap, Our Parliament, National Book Trust, New Delhi, 1989.
56 Ramesh K. Arora and Rajni Goyal, Indian Public Administration, Institution and
Issues, New Age International Publishers, New Delhi, 2006.
54

19

is characterised by potential, but not complete effectiveness.

The author describes that whenever there are differences
between the Public Accounts Committee, Committee on Public
Undertaking and the Estimates Committee on the one hand
and the Government ministries and departments on the other,
such differences should be discussed in the whole House.
P.K. Wattals book, Parliamentary Financial Control in
India57 deals with the evolution, composition, functions,
powers,

procedures,

recommendations

of

the

Estimates

Committee and its relevance in India which is quite useful for

the present work. The Parliamentary bodies concerned with the
financial control have improved their status during the last 12
years. The author describes the various agencies of financial
control like Legislature, the Executive Government, the Finance
Ministry and the Audit department. The Finance Ministry made
large delegations of authority to the administrative ministers
and also agreed that once a scheme was included in the budget,
no further financial sanction would be necessary.
S.

Seshadaris

book

Parliamentary

Control

over

Finance,58 is a depth study of the evolution, growth and

working of Estimates Committee in Indian Parliament. The
striking character of this Committee according to Seshadri is its

P.K. Wattal, Parliamentary Financial Control in India, Minerva Book Shop,

Bombay, 1962.
58 S. Seshadri, Parliamentary Control over Finance, Allied Publishers, New Delhi,
1975.
57

20

non-party approach and its ability to withstand political

pressure.
The book Parliament and Administration in India59 by
L.M. Singhvi deals with the Parliamentary control over the
Executive. The adequacy of existing procedures and the impact
of Estimates Committee on administration has been described.
The functional framework of modern Parliament constantly
brings them into contact with executive and administrative
departments. As an electoral chamber, a legislature supervises
administration, evaluates it, criticizes it, reacts to it, supports it
and bring it into account. It is important in an effective
Parliamentary system to preserve continuous interchange and
interaction between Parliament and administration and to
synthesize accountability and evolution with autonomy and
efficiency. The present volume seeks to examine the problems of
interrelationship between Parliament and administration in
detail.
In

another

work

by

Subhash

C.

Kashyap

on

Parliamentary Committees60 briefly deals with the Committee

structure the types of Parliamentary Committees, their
composition and functions obtaining in some countries viz.,
India, Australia, U.K., U.S.A., Canada and France. The author
describes that the Parliamentary Committees play an important
L.M. Singhvi, Parliament and Administration in India, Metropolitan Book Co.,
Delhi, 1992.
60 Subhash C. Kashyap, Parliamentary Committees, Lok Sabha Secretariat, New
Delhi, 1988.
59

21

role in the working of legislatures all over the world. Moreover

with the increasing business and expanding functions of
modern Parliaments, increasing use of Committees is an
evident in almost all Parliaments of the world.
S.R. Maheshwari in his book, Indian Administration on
Historical Accounts61 deals with the reports of Estimates
Committee and he has suggested the alternative policies in
order to bring about efficiency and economy in administration.
The Estimates Committee of Parliament has steadily emerged
as a insignificant agent of administrative reforms in the
machinery of governance of India.
Subhash C. Kashyap wrote a book on Parliament
Procedure62 and the 2nd volume of this book deals with the
three Financial Committees, namely Estimates Committee, the
Public Accounts Committee and the Public Undertakings
Committee in Indian Parliament which is quite relevant in the
2nd chapter of the present work.
M.P.

Shrivastava

in

his

book,

Parliamentary

Accountability and Supervision over Public Enterprises63

discussed the various issues of Parliamentary accountability of
public enterprises by giving some examples of developed and
developing nations like U.K., U.S.A., Tanzania, Nigeria for

S.R. Maheshwari, Indian Administration on Historical Accounts, Jawahar

Publishers, New Delhi, 1994.
62 Subhash C. Kashyap, Parliament Procedure, Universal Law Publishing Co.,
Delhi, 2000.
63 M.P. Shrivastava, Parliamentary Accountability and Supervision over Public
Enterprises, Deep and Deep Publications, New Delhi, 1992.
61

22

critical, effective and comparative analysis of the Parliamentary

accountability

in

India.

He

also

analyses

the

main

Parliamentary weapons of enforcing accountability of public

enterprises such as Parliamentary Debates and Parliamentary
Committees

i.e.,

Public

Accounts

Committee,

Estimates

Committee and Public Undertakings Committee.

G.C. Malhotra in his book, Fifty Years of Indian
Parliament64 describes that Parliamentary democracy in India
has faced various challenges successfully. Our Parliament is
playing a crucial role in promoting the lofty ideals of our
Constitution,

namely

participative

democracy,

social

and

religious pluralism, social justice and graving opportunities for

the citizens to take part of the nations progress in different
fields social, economic and technological etc.
C.P. Bhambhari in his book on Parliamentary Control
over Finance in India65 deals with the financial administration
of the Indian Government. He has also evaluated the working
and legitimacy of various Committees. He has compared the
financial administration of India with that of Great Britain.
N.R.

Inamdar

Administrative

in

The

Accountability66

Estimates
attempts

Committee
to

examine

and
the

working of Estimates Committee. The author describes that the

G.C. Malhotra, Fifty Years of Indian Parliament, Lok Sabha Secretariat, New
Delhi, 2002.
65 C.P. Bhambhri, Parliamentary Control over Finance in India, Education and New
Publishers, New Delhi, 1976.
66 N.R. Inamdar, The Estimates Committee and Administration Accountability,
The Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol. XXIX, No. 3, July-September
1983.
64

23

accountability is the responsibility of the executive to give

answer to the representative body of the people. Certain
suggestions have been offered to streamline and activate the
working

of

the

Estimates

Committee.

The

power

of

administrative accountability is vested in the Parliament and

the State Legislature. It would be actively operationalised only
with the active participation in its exercise by their members.
K.N. Baisya in his book, Financial Administration in India
(Theory

and

Practice)67

discusses

sound

financial

administration touching every organ irrespective of private or

public which would make the state structure stronger, the
foundation of economy sounder and people happier. It also
provides us the knowledge about the financial accountability of
executive to legislature. Development of economy aims at
achievement through long perspective successive planning. The
budget being the segment of a long perspective plan bears the
basic and cardinal principle relating to prime objectives.
Basil Chubb in his book on The Control of Public
Expenditure68 deals with the two Financial Committees. The
Estimates Committee and the Public Accounts Committee of
the House of Commons of England. It is a study of some
aspects of parliamentary and administrative procedure in the
19th and 20th centuries. It was not until the middle of 19th
K.N. Baisya, Financial Administration in India (Theory and Practice), Himalaya
Publishing House, Bombay, 1986.
68 Basil Chubb, The Control of Public Expenditure, Oxford University Press, London,
1957.
67

24

century that a complete system and adequate machinery of

control were evolved.
S.L. Goel in his book, Public Financial Administration69
describes that there is a great financial crisis at all levels of
Government i.e. union to local levels. Financial development
and socio-economic development are interlinked. Finance
accelerates the process of economic growth and that is why the
ministry of finance must attend to finances of the country in a
prudent manner. Financial management must be given top
priority

as

the

entire

functioning

of

the

machinery

of

government depends on finances. In this book, concrete

suggestions have been given to make use of the finances
efficiently to ensure financial stability and development as well
as to face the forces of globalisation and privatization etc.
W.H. Morris-Jones in his work, Parliament in India70
deals with the financial Committees of India. Since Indian
political institutions owe much to British experience, it has
been difficult wholly to avoid atleast implicit comparisons with
British practice. Nevertheless, an attempt has been made, for it
is certainly more important to measure political institutions
and behaviour against national character and national needs.

S.L. Goel, Pubic Financial Administration, Deep and Deep Publications, New
Delhi, 2002.
70 W.H. Morris-Jones, Parliament in India, Longmans Green and Co., London,
1957.
69

25

A. Prem Chands book, Control of Public Expenditure in

India,71 deals with two Financial Committees i.e., the Estimates
Committee

and

the

Public

Accounts

Committee.

These

committees supplement the control at the initial stage where

funds are voted by the Parliament. Each committee in its own
way tries to ensure that the objectives of Parliamentary control
is fulfilled. The author points out that there are certain
hindrances in this regard which effect their effective control on
Public finance.
Amiya K. Chaudhari wrote a book on Legislative Control
over Public Administration72 and in this book, the author
describes the concept of control of the executive by the
legislature.

It

investigate

in

detail,

the

three

Financial

Committees i.e. Public Accounts Committee, the Estimates

Committee and the Public Undertakings Committee. Besides
this, the author has also given many suggestions to improve the
working of committees.
Jyoti Mitra in her book, Women and Society; Equality and
Empowerment73 laid stress on social, economic and political
equality among men and women and the need for women
empowerment. She emphasized the need to overcome the
obstacles in her way towards women empowerment. Although

A. Prem Chand, Control of Public Expenditure in India, Allied Publishers, New

York, 1963.
72 Amiya K. Chaudhari, Legislative Control over Public Administration, Minerva
Association, Calcutta, 1993.
73 Jyoti Mitra, Women and Society: Equality and Empowerment, Kanishka
Publishers, New Delhi, 1997.
71

26

women constitute half of the population but still considered

inferior to men. She criticized the technological revolution,
which brought comforts for human life but failed to broaden the
vision of male counterparts.
K.C. Vidyas work, Political Empowerment of Women at
the

Grassroots74

described

institution/organization.

She

the

role

of

has

described

women
the

in

an

emerging

pattern of women leadership, their participation in the decision

making process, their influence in and impact on the overall
development of women especially in the rural areas.
Sweta

Mishra

in

her

article,

Women

and

73rd

Constitutional Amendment Act: A Critical Appraisal75 explains

the position of women in present arena. Women played a
dummy role in comparison to their male counterpart in the
society. She suggests that awareness, political education,
campaigns etc. play an important role in creating awareness
among women. This can be possible only by giving them more
opportunities of participation in political process.
Another important work on People, Parliament and
Administration has been conducted by Balram Jakhar.76 It
provides a detailed account of the functioning and role of the
Estimates Committee in the Indian Parliament. This book is

K.C. Vidya, Political Empowerment of Women at the Grassroots, Kanishka

Publishers, New Delhi, 1977.
75 Sweta Mishra, Women and 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act: A Critical
Appraisal, Social Action, Vol. 47, No. 2, January-March 1997.
76 Balram Jakhar, People, Parliament and Administration, Metropolitan, New Delhi,
1982.
74

27

more like a handbook for the Parliamentarians. The author of

the book had seen practical aspect and is of the view that the
Estimates Committee endeavour to undertake the task of
detailed scrutiny of government spending and performance is
quite appreciable.
Romesh Chandra Mishras book, Role of Women in
Legislatures in India: A Study,77 deals with the importance of
legislative studies which has increased in the recent decades. In
this book, the author has made an attempt to analyse the
socio-economic profile and role of women legislators in Orissa.
India after independence created a new political order in which
the Constitutional infrastructure guaranteed equal rights and
opportunities for political participation for all. In reality, women
have remained away from the politics. The steps towards
empowerment of women are still lacking boldness.
R.C. Swarankar has found in his book, Political Elite: A
Sociological Study of Legislators in Rajasthan,78 that political
elite plays an important role in the formulation of policies,
economic planning and socio-political reforms in Indian society.
Their heterogeneous socio-economic make up represents the
different sections of the society. The author analyses the sociocultural profile of Rajasthan politics which provide the base for
tracing the functioning of the legislative elite.
Romesh Chandra Mishra, Role of Women in Legislatures in India: A Study, Anmol
Publications, New Delhi, 2000.
78 R.C. Swarankar, Political Elite: A Sociological Study of Legislators in Rajasthan,
Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 1998.
77

28

Hiren Mukherjee in his book India and Parliament79

describes the process of Parliamentary system in India. The
British Parliamentary system is generally thought of as the
worlds oldest example of legislature. The author also described
the history of the Financial Committees and especially of the
Estimates Committees as a valuable store of knowledge for a
researcher.
Ivor Jennings in his work on Parliament,80 attempts to
provide a good survey of the working of the British Parliament.
The Estimates Committee has been originated from the Great
Britain in the year 1912. The work is useful in evaluating the
historical background of the Estimates Committee. The author
has also discussed the various stages of the Estimates
Committee and the financial control of the Parliament.
Another work on Glimpses of the Working of the
Parliament81 by S.L. Shakdhar is a useful study on the
historical background, functions and role of Parliament. The
work basically related with the rules, procedure and conduct of
business in the Indian Parliament.
A.R. Mukherjea in his work Parliamentary Procedures in
India,82 described the rules and procedures relating to the
working of committee of the Indian Parliament. The study
Hiren Mukherjee, India and Parliament, Peoples Publishing House, New Delhi,
1962.
80 Ivor Jennings, Parliament, The University Press, Cambridge, 1969.
81 S.L. Shakdhar, Glimpses of the Working of Parliament, Metropolitan, New Delhi,
1977.
82 A.R. Mukherjea, Parliamentary Procedure in India, 3rd ed., Oxford University
Press, Calcutta, 1983.
79

29

basically focused on the emergence of the Estimates Committee

in Lok Sabha in 1950, which is quite relevant in the 2nd
Chapter of the present work. Chapter 12 in particular, on the
system of committees; the description of the work and
procedures

of

the

individual

committees

has

also

been

discussed in greater detail.

R.B. Jain in his work on Indian Parliament; Innovations,
Reforms and Development83 deals with the functions and role
of various committees in Indian Parliament. He analyses the
action taken reports of the various Financial Committees of the
Indian Parliament which is quite informative in the present
work.
Another work on Parliament and Public Expenditure in
India84 by Laxmi Narain, is a useful study on the Committee on
Public Undertakings. In this book, the author describes the
composition, structure, historical background and its impact.
Accountability of the public sector enterprises to the public
through the Parliament is essential and the Committee on
Public Undertakings play a very key role in ensuring the
accountability. The committee has an important role to
highlight not only the role and importance of the public sector
but also in making constructive suggestions to ensure that the
public sector enterprises gets effective help in the problem faced
R.B. Jain, The Indian Parliament: Innovations Reforms and Development, South
Asia Books, India, 1976.
84 Laxmi Narain, Parliament and Public Expenditure in India, S. Chand and
Company, New Delhi, 1979.
83

30

by its management which are beyond from its control. One of

the major tasks performed by the committee is to identify the
factors responsible for the performance or lack of it and suggest
preventive measures to improve the situation. The Committee
on Public Undertakings is the best source of authoritative and
much detailed information about these enterprises.
Legislative Control over Government Expenditure85 is
written by B.P. Singh is another important work in which the
author described the composition, functions and works of
procedure

of

Public

Accounts

Committee

and

Estimates

Committee of Bihar Vidhan Sabha. The spirit of Democracy

lives only so long as the representatives of the people, who sit
either in the Parliament or in a State Legislature, exercise direct
control over the finances of the Country or the State concerned
and consider not only how money received from the people is to
be spent but also how it has been spent. An attempt has been
made to study the legislature and its Financial Committees
(Public Accounts Committee and Estimates Committee) in
connection with the financial control over the government of
Bihar Vidhan Sabha.
Ashoka Chakravarty in his book Legislative Politics in
India86 attempts to analyze the various Committee Systems
which prevails in legislature countries like India, England,
B.P. Singh, Legislative Control Over Government Expenditure, B.R. Publishing
Corporation, Delhi, 1986.
86 Ashoka Chakravarty, Legislative Politics in India, Radha Publications, New Delhi,
1991.
85

31

America, etc. It defines how the legislature came into existence

in India. The makers of the Constitution of free India faced an
uphill task. The popular will as well as the official opinion both
advocated the establishment of an All India Federation as the
most satisfactory solution of the Indian Political tangle. The
present work deals with the position and working of second
chamber in a number of leading countries of the world and
traces in detail the history of second chamber in India. He also
analysed the circumstances and factors that were responsible
for continuing with bi-cameralism at the union and in the
states under the Constitution of India.
Ramesh

Aroras

Public

Administration

in

India:

Tradition Trends and Transformations87 throws light on the

social, culture, historical and political context in which the
Indian Administrative system functions. It also examines the
impact

of

surrounding

Public

Administrative

environmental

Organizations

structure.

In

this

on

their

book,

he

described the various issues and instruments of accountability.

The author describes the various agencies of financial control
like the legislature, the Executive Government, the Finance
Ministry and the Audit Department. Parliamentary Committee
in India for a long time had been criticizing the over-budgeting
and defective control of expenditure in their annual reports.
The Finance Ministry made large delegations of authority to the
Ramesh K. Arora, Public Administration in India: Tradition, Trends and
Transformation, Paragon International Publishers, New Delhi, 2006.
87

32

Administrative Ministers and also agreed that once a scheme

was included in the budget no further financial sanction would
be necessary.
Government Budgeting: Principles and Practices88 wrote
by N. Judarsanan provides a comprehensive coverage on the
various theoretical

and practical

aspects of Government

Budgeting. It deals with origin, functions and powers of

Parliamentary

Committees.

Budgeting

is

an

important

component of financial administration, apart of the total

process

of

administration.

Budgeting

assumes

greater

significance as the Union and state Government in India are

caught in serious financial situation. As such Budgeting is
employed by the Government as a special tool to direct and
control the affairs of the nation.
Anupama Singh in his important work Bureaucracy at
the Grassroots Levels in India89 has thoroughly discussed the
socio-economic profile of the officials and the beneficiaries, to
examine the structural deficiencies in the administrative set up
at the block level, in recruitment, promotion and to examine the
role of bureaucrats with regard to policies. The indicators like
age, education, economic status and family background are
used to know the difference of class, caste and economic status
of officials and beneficiaries.
N. Judarsanan, Government Budgeting: Principles and Practices, Street
Publications, Chennai, 2001.
89 Anupama Singh, Bureaucracy at the Grassroots Level in India, Kanishka
Publishers, Distributors, New Delhi, 2006.
88

33

Political Elites90 written by S. Nagendra Ambedkar deals

with the members of 8th Legislative Assembly in Andhra
Pradesh. The legislatures in developing countries tend to be
composed of more educated, urban dwelling individuals drawn
from the upper-middle strata of society since they have the
verbal skills, the necessary material resource to get elected to
the representative institutions. The member of assembly play
an important role in any political system, and occupy a very
important

position

in

the

constitutional

framework.

It

highlights the socio-economic background of legislative elites of

the state. These variables like education, caste, age, religion,
profession, etc. are very necessary for getting the membership
in

the

assembly.

It

also

evaluates

the

governmental

performance, their perception on various important issues for

solving problems.
A book entitled Ecology of Elite Recruitment91 written by
H.S. Deol presents an exhaustive and analytical study of the
various existing elite theories. It aims at exploring the role of
caste, class, religion, gender composition, profession and
various other allied factors in the recruitment and selection of
political elites. He suggests how the socio-economic background
of a person plays a vital role in determining a persons political
opportunity. It provides an idea of the very important
S. Nagendra Ambedkar, Political Elite, Printwell, Jaipur, 1991.
H.S. Deol, Ecology of Elite Recruitment, Rajmindra Publishers and Distributors,
Jalandhar, 1987.
90
91

34

interactions between the antecedents of the elite and the

prevailing socio-political conditions of the state.
Objectives of the Study
The main objectives of the study are as following:
1.

To

study

the

evolution

of

Financial

Parliamentary

Committees in India.
2.

To know the socio-economic profile of the members of

Estimates Committees in Punjab.

3.

To know the reason for less number of women members

participation in the activities of Estimates Committee.

4.

To analyze the performance and working of Estimates

Committee from 1992 to 2007 in Punjab.

5.

To

examine

and

classify

the

recommendations

implemented by the government.

Hypotheses
Keeping in view the objectives of the study, the following
hypotheses have been framed:
1.

The Committee lacks adequate power to maintain its

effective control over Public Finance.

2.

The Recommendations of the committee yet are generally

accepted by the government, but are not acted upon.

3.

The Committee lacks the expert assistance of the

comptroller and Auditor General as provided to the Public
Accounts Committee.

4.

Short tenure of the members of the Estimates Committee

is a big hurdle in the proper functioning of the committee.

35

5.

The Recommendations of the committee are, at best,

advisory and it is the government which ultimately
decides whether they have to be implemented or not.

Research Methodology
For the research work, both primary as well as secondary
sources have been used. In this study, historical as well as
analytical methods have been employed. Historical method has
been used to study the facts which led to the inclusion of
Financial Committees in India. analytical method has been
applied to evaluate the working of Estimates Committees.
Interview and questionnaire were the main method through
which the data has been collected. Interview schedule provide
the best mean of discussing the views, actions and reactions of
the interviewers regarding the issues to be investigated. Some
present, ex-members and people working with the Committee
were interviewed for the information. These interviews were very
helpful in understanding the working of the Committee. The
information is collected through fieldwork. Apart from this, a
number of difficulties were faced during interview period. A list
of 70 members was prepared and the information was collected
by mean of random sampling method.
Besides this, several other official documents such as
Punjab Vidhan Sabha Debates, the Rules of Procedure and
Conduct of Business in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Whos Who
of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Internal Working Rules of the
Estimates Committee of Punjab, Reports and Resume of the
36

Estimates Committee and Annual Reviews of the Estimates

Committee has been used for an analysis of the functioning of
the Estimates Committee. The secondary sources comprise of
information obtained from books, journals, newspapers and
research articles, etc.
Chapterisation of the Study
The work has been divided into six chapters including
introduction and conclusion.
1.

Introduction: The first chapter includes introduction of

the topic, significance of the study, scope of the study,
objectives hypotheses and research methodology. It also
presents a review of existing literature and chapterization
of the study.

2.

Second Chapter deals with the evolution of Financial

Parliamentary

Committees

in

India

like

Estimates

Committee, Public Accounts Committee and Committee

on Public Undertakings.
3.

Third Chapter relates with the committee system in

Punjab. It includes the composition and functions of
Financial as well as Non-Financial Committees of Punjab.

4.

Fourth Chapter associated with the socio-economic

profile of the members of Estimates Committee of Punjab
1992-2007. The data is related to the socio-economic
factors such as

age, caste, profession, educational

qualification, religion, gender, etc.

37

5.

Fifth Chapter is related with the composition, function

and it focuses on the working procedure of the Estimates
Committee of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha 1992-2007 on the
basis of information. An attempt has been made to know
the total meetings, meetings held at Chandigarh and held
outside Chandigarh. How many meetings were adjourned
for want of quorum?

6.

Sixth Chapter deals with the recommendation of the

Estimates Committee in Punjab during 1992-2007. The
Committee analysed that how many recommendations
have been implemented by government or not.

6.

Seventh Chapter which one is the last chapter of the

study traces the findings of the thesis. It contains some
suggestions which if adopted will go a long way in
improving the functioning of the Estimates Committee of
Punjab.

38