Which of the following statements about the Committee on Public Undertakings is/are correct? 1. There are more members from the Rajya Sabha than the Lok Sabha in the Committee. 2. The Chairperson of the Committee is appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — B, 2 only. The Committee on Public Undertakings has twenty-two members — fifteen elected by the Lok Sabha and not more than seven by the Rajya Sabha — so the Lok Sabha contingent is more than twice the Rajya Sabha's, and statement 1 has the ratio exactly backwards. Statement 2 holds: the Chairperson is appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and by convention from among the Lok Sabha members of the Committee, a Rajya Sabha member never chairing it.
- (a)1 only — Statement 1 is the false one. Fifteen of the twenty-two members come from the Lok Sabha and no more than seven from the Rajya Sabha.
- (c)Both 1 and 2 — Cannot be, because the membership figures in statement 1 are inverted. Only statement 2 survives.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Statement 2 is plainly correct — the Speaker appoints the Chairperson — so rejecting both is wrong.
The Committee on Public Undertakings was constituted in 1964 to examine the reports and accounts of public sector undertakings and the Comptroller and Auditor General's reports on them. It is one of the three financial committees of Parliament, alongside the Public Accounts Committee and the Estimates Committee, and members serve a one-year term.
The three financial committees are best held as a set. Public Accounts and Public Undertakings each have twenty-two members, fifteen from the Lok Sabha and seven from the Rajya Sabha; the Estimates Committee has thirty and is drawn from the Lok Sabha alone, which makes it both the largest and the only single-House one. In every case the Speaker appoints the Chairperson, and a Rajya Sabha member is never chosen.
- The Committee on Public Undertakings has 22 members — 15 from the Lok Sabha, not more than 7 from the Rajya Sabha.
- It was constituted with effect from 1 May 1964.
- The Estimates Committee, with 30 members, is the largest parliamentary committee and takes no Rajya Sabha members.
- A minister cannot be elected to any of the three financial committees.
Statement 1 inverts the 15-and-7 split that both of the twenty-two-member committees share.
- Inverting the 15 and 7 split, which is the exact trick used here.
- Assuming the Estimates Committee also takes Rajya Sabha members; it does not.
- Forgetting that the Speaker names the Chairperson of all three.
As membership numbers, as which committee excludes the Rajya Sabha, or as who appoints the Chairperson.
Consider the following statements: 1. While members of the Rajya Sabha are associated with Committees on Public Accounts and Public Undertakings, Members of Committee on Estimates are drawn entirely from Lok Sabha. 2. The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs works under the overall direction of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs. 3. The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs nominates members of Parliament on Committees, Councils, Boards and Commissions set up by the Government of India in the various ministries. Which of these statements are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2
- (b) 2 and 3
- (c) 1 and 3
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(d) 1, 2 and 3
The same distinction from the other side. Its first statement pairs the two committees that do take Rajya Sabha members with the Estimates Committee that does not — which is the structure statement 1 here gets backwards.
Which one of the following committees does not have members from the Rajya Sabha?
- (a) The Public Accounts Committee
- (b) The Committee on Public Undertakings
- (c) The Estimates Committee
- (d) The Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Answer(c) The Estimates Committee
Which committee has no Rajya Sabha members at all. The Estimates Committee is the odd one out, and holding that fact fixes the composition of the other two by contrast.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the three financial committees of Parliament has members drawn only from the Lok Sabha?
- (a)The Public Accounts Committee
- (b)The Committee on Public Undertakings
- (c)The Estimates Committee
- (d)All three
Answer(c) The Estimates Committee — thirty members, all from the Lok Sabha; the other two take up to seven from the Rajya Sabha.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Chairperson of the Committee on Public Undertakings is
- (a)elected by the members of the Committee
- (b)appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha
- (c)appointed by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
- (d)nominated by the Prime Minister
Answer(b) appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha — and in practice from among its Lok Sabha members.