List of Indian parliamentary committees


The Parliamentary committees are established to study and deal with various matters that cannot be directly handled by the legislature due to their volume. They also monitor the functioning of the executive branch.
The Parliamentary committees are of two kinds – standing or permanent committees and ad hoc committees. The former are elected or appointed periodically and they work on a continuous basis. The latter are created on an ad hoc basis as the need arises and they are dissolved after they complete the task assigned to them.

Standing committees

A standing committee is a committee consisting of Members of Parliament. It is a permanent and regular committee which is constituted from time to time according to the provisions of an Act of Parliament or Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business. The work done by the Indian Parliament is not only voluminous but also of a complex nature, hence a good deal of its work is carried out in these Parliamentary committees.
Standing committees are of the following kinds :
  1. Financial standing committees
  2. Department related standing committees
  3. Other standing committees

    Financial standing committees

There are three important standing committees dealing with financial affairs. These committees involve further sub-committees.
  1. Public Accounts Committee – It examines various expenditure reports and accounts under the purview of the Parliament. Till 1966-67, a senior member of the ruling party used to be appointed by the Speaker as Chairman of the Committee. In 1967, however, for the first time, a member from the Opposition in Lok Sabha, was appointed as the chairperson of the committee by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. This practice continues till date.
  2. Estimates Committee – The committee on Estimates, constituted for the first time in 1950, is a committee consisting of 30 members, elected every year by the Lok Sabha from amongst its Members.
  3. Public Undertakings Committee – It analyses the accounts, and workings of the state owned PSU firms. It also keeps a check on the disinvestment policies of the various PSUs.
S.No.CommitteeChairpersonCompositionTenureNominated / electedSub-committees
1Public Accounts
Committee		MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury22 members
1 YearElected from Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha MPsSub-Committee – I : Non Compliance in Timely submission of Action Taken Notes on the Non-selected Audit Paragraphs & Excess Expenditure
Sub-Committee – II : Direct and Indirect Taxes
Sub-Committee – III : Implementation of Recommendations of PAC
Sub-Committee – IV : Railways
2Estimates CommitteeMP Girish Bapat30 members 1 YearElected from Lok Sabha MPsSub-Committee – I : Drought situation in the country pertaining to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
Sub-Committee – II : Education with special reference to the recent development regarding autonomy in Education
3Public Undertakings CommitteeMP Meenakshi Lekhi22 members
1 YearElected from Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha MPs*Currently None*

Department-related standing committees

During the year 1989 – 8th Lok Sabha the Rules Committee considered and approved a proposal that three subject committees, on Agriculture; Environment & Forests; and Science & Technology. The rules relating to these committees were finally approved by the House and the committees were formally constituted with effect from 18 August, 1989.
The Reports of Rules Committees of the 10th Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adopted by the two Houses on 29 March, 1993 paved the way for the setting up of the 17 departmentally related standing committees covering under their jurisdiction all the Ministries/Departments of the Union Government.
These DRSCs replaced the earlier three subject committees constituted in August, 1989. The 17 departmentally related standing committees were formally constituted with effect from April, 1993. After experiencing the working of the DRSC system for over a decade, the system was re-structured in July, 2004 wherein the number of DRSCs was increased from 17 to 24. Till 13th Lok Sabha, each of these standing committees used to consist of 45 members— 30 nominated by the Speaker from amongst the members of Lok Sabha and 15 members nominated by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha from amongst the members of Rajya Sabha. However, with re-structuring of DRSCs in July, 2004 each DRSC consists of 31 members—21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha.
There are 24 department-related standing committees. Each of these committees have 31 members – 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. These members are to be nominated by the Speaker of Lok Sabha or the Chairman of Rajya Sabha respectively. The term of office of these committees does not exceed one year. These committees are serviced either by Lok Sabha secretariat or the Rajya Sabha secretariat, depending on who has appointed the chairman of that committee.
S.No.CommitteeMinistriesChairpersonTenureChairman nominated by
1Committee on Agriculture
MP Hukmdev Narayan Yadav1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
2Committee on Chemicals and FertilizersChemicals and FertilizersMP Anandrao Vithoba Adsul1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
3Committee on Coal and Steel
  • Coal
  • Mines
  • Steel
    		• MP Rakesh Singh1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    4Committee on CommerceCommerce and IndustryMP V. Vijayasai Reddy1 yearChairman of Rajya Sabha
    5Committee on DefenceDefenceMP Kalraj Mishra1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    6Committee on Energy
  • Power
  • New and Renewable Energy
    		• MP Kambhampati Hari Babu1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    7Committee on External AffairsExternal AffairsMP P. P. Chaudhary1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    8Committee on Finance
  • Finance
  • Planning (NITI Aayog
  • Corporate Affairs
  • Statistics and Programme Implementation
    		• MP Veerappa Moily1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    9Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public DistributionConsumer Affairs, Food and Public DistributionMP J. C. Diwakar Reddy1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    10Committee on Health and Family WelfareHealth and Family WelfareAYUSHMP Ram Gopal Yadav1 yearChairman of Rajya Sabha
    11Committee on Home Affairs
    		MP P. Chidambaram1 yearChairman of Rajya Sabha
    12Committee on Human Resource Development
  • Human Resource Development
  • Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
  • Women and Child Development
  • Youth Affairs and Sports
    		• MP Satyanarayan Jatiya1 yearChairman of Rajya Sabha
    13Committee on Industry
  • Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
  • Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
    		• MP Ramchandra Prasad Singh1 yearChairman of Rajya Sabha
    14Committee on Information Technology
  • Communications
  • Electronics and Information Technology
  • Information and Broadcasting
    		• MP Shashi Tharoor1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    15Committee on Labour
  • Labour and Employment
  • Textiles
    		• MP Kirit Somaiya1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    16Committee on Personnel, Public Governances, Law and Justice
  • Law and Justice
  • Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
    		• MP Bhupender Yadav1 yearChairman of Rajya Sabha
    17Committee on Petroleum and Natural GasPetroleum and Natural GasMP Pralhad Joshi1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    18Committee on RailwaysRailwaysMP Sudip Bandyopadhyay1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    19Committee on Rural Development
  • Rural Development
  • Panchayati Raj
  		• MP Ponnusamy Venugopal1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    20Committee on Science & Technology and Environment & Forests
  • Science and Technology
  • Atomic Energy
  • Space
  • Earth Sciences
  • Environment, Forests and Climate Change
    		• MP Anand Sharma1 yearChairman of Rajya Sabha
    21Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment
  • Social Justice and Empowerment
  • Tribal Affairs
  • Minority Affairs
    		• MP Ramesh Bais1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    22Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture
  • Civil Aviation
  • Culture
  • Road Transport and Highways
  • Shipping
  • Tourism
    		• MP Derek O’Brien1 yearChairman of Rajya Sabha
    23Committee on Urban Development
  • Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
  		• MP Pinaki Misra1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha
    24Committee on Water ResourcesMinistry of Jal ShaktiMP Rajiv Pratap Rudy1 yearSpeaker of Lok Sabha

    Other standing committees

    ** In each House there is a GPC. All members are ex-officio members by virtue of being chairmen of respective standing committees and leaders of respective parties.

    Ad hoc committees

    , the following ad hoc committees are in operation:
    S.No.CommitteeChairpersonTenureComposition
    1Committee on EthicsMP L. K. Advani1 year15 members
    2Committee on Food Management in Parliament House ComplexMP A. P. Jithender Reddy1 Year15 members
    3Committee on Installation of Portraits/Statues of National leaders and ParliamentariansMP Sumitra MahajanFor the duration of one Lok Sabha12 members
    4Committee on MP Local Area Development SchemeMP M. Thambidurai1 Year24 members
    5Committee on Provision of Computers to Members of Lok SabhaMP P. KumarFor the duration of one Lok Sabha10 members
    6Joint Committee on Maintenance of Heritage Character and Development of Parliament House ComplexMP Sumitra MahajanFor the duration of one Lok Sabha10 members
    7Joint Committee on Security in Parliament House ComplexMP Sumitra Mahajan1 Year10 members
    8Railway Convention CommitteeMP Bhartruhari MahtabFor the duration of one Lok Sabha18 members
    9Committee on Violation of Protocol Norms and Contemptuous Behaviour of Government Officers with Members of Lok SabhaMP Rayapati Sambasiva RaoFor the duration of one Lok Sabha15 members
    10Committee to Inquiry into the Improper Conduct of a MemberMP Kirit Somaiya**For the year 2016 only**9 members

    Notable ad hoc committees

    The Government of India has appointed a number of committees ad-hoc committees. Some of the notable ad-hoc committees are as follows :

    Pre-independence

    After Independence