Why do you think the committees are considered to be useful for parliamentary work? Discuss, in this context, the role of the Estimates Committee.
Approach · directive: “why / discuss”
What it asks · Explain why committees help Parliament do detailed, expert and continuous scrutiny, then set out the composition and functions of the Estimates Committee.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Why committees are useful for parliamentary work: detailed, expert, continuous and less partisan scrutiny
- Discuss the role of the Estimates Committee: composition, functions and its working
Open with · Parliament has limited time and a heavy load, so committees work as smaller, focused Houses that examine legislation, budgets and administration in detail.
Cover
- Utility: they save floor time, allow detailed scrutiny of Bills and departments, and work between sessions.
- Expertise and consultation: they hear ministries, experts and stakeholders in a less partisan, closed-door setting where members can build consensus.
- Accountability: they keep the executive under continuous check; the financial committees (Public Accounts, Estimates, Public Undertakings) and the Departmentally Related Standing Committees scrutinise spending and policy.
- Estimates Committee: 30 members elected annually by the Lok Sabha by proportional representation with the single transferable vote; the Speaker appoints the Chairperson; Ministers are not eligible.
- Functions: to report what economies, improvements in organisation, efficiency or administrative reform may be effected; suggest alternative policies for economy; examine whether money is well laid out; and suggest the form of the estimates.
- In practice: often called a continuous economy committee, it studies selected subjects of expenditure through the year and reports on them; its advice is not binding and depends on follow-up of action-taken replies.
- Limits: referral of Bills to committees fell from about 71 per cent in the 15th Lok Sabha to about 25 per cent in the 16th (PRS data) and reports are advisory, so mandatory referral and firm follow-up would strengthen the system.
Close with · Committees make Parliament's oversight deeper and more continuous; the Estimates Committee's economy-focused review of spending is a useful check if its advice is followed up.
Add value (verified)
- The Lok Sabha's own description of the Committee on Estimates lists its functions, beginning with economies, better organisation, efficiency and administrative reform consistent with the policy behind the estimates. Parliamentary Committees, Chapter III (Committee on Estimates) — Lok Sabha, Parliament of India (sansad.in) ↗“to report what economies, improvements in organisation, efficiency or administrative reform, consistent with the policy underlying the estimates, may be effected”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2018, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 235 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
Parliament's time is short and its business vast, so committees act as miniature Houses that examine Bills, budgets and administration in depth.
Why committees are useful
- Time and detail: they save floor time, examine Bills and demands for grants clause by clause, and work between sessions.
- Expertise and consensus: they hear ministries, experts and stakeholders in closed, less partisan sittings where members build cross-party agreement.
- Continuous accountability: the financial committees (Public Accounts, Estimates, Public Undertakings) and the Departmentally Related Standing Committees keep the executive under year-round check.
- Caveat: Bill referrals fell from about 71 per cent in the 15th Lok Sabha to about 25 per cent in the 16th (PRS data), and reports bind no one.
The Estimates Committee
- Composition: 30 Lok Sabha members elected yearly by proportional representation through the single transferable vote; the Speaker appoints the Chairperson; Ministers are ineligible.
- Functions: to report what economies, improvements in organisation, efficiency or administrative reform, consistent with the policy underlying the estimates, may be effected; to suggest alternative policies for efficiency and economy; to examine whether money is well laid out; and to suggest the form of the estimates.
- Working: called the continuous economy committee, it examines selected expenditure subjects through the year; its advice is not binding and depends on action-taken follow-up.
Committees give Parliament depth and continuity in oversight; the Estimates Committee's economy-focused review of spending stays valuable if its advice is acted upon.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.