Which pair is incorrect regarding the appointment of Chairpersons of Parliamentary Committees constituted by the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha for the year 2024-25?
- (a)Public Accounts Committee - K.C. Venugopal
- (b)Estimates Committee - Baijayant Panda
- (c)Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes - Faggan Singh Kulaste
- (d)Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes - Ganesh Singh
Correct — B, 'Estimates Committee — Baijayant Panda' is the wrong pair. When Speaker Om Birla constituted the 18th Lok Sabha's committees for 2024-25, the Committee on Estimates went to Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal (BJP, Paschim Champaran). Baijayant 'Jay' Panda (BJP, Kendrapara) was named chairperson of the Committee on Public Undertakings — a different financial committee. The remaining three pairs are exactly as announced.
- (a)Public Accounts Committee - K.C. Venugopal — Correctly matched, so not the answer. K.C. Venugopal (Congress, Alappuzha) chairs the PAC — consistent with the convention followed since 1967 of giving the PAC chair to a senior Opposition member.
- (c)Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes - Faggan Singh Kulaste — Correctly matched, so not the answer. Faggan Singh Kulaste (BJP, Mandla, Madhya Pradesh) was appointed chairperson of this committee in August 2024.
- (d)Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes - Ganesh Singh — Correctly matched, so not the answer. Ganesh Singh (BJP, Satna, Madhya Pradesh) heads the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes.
Parliament's three financial committees are the Public Accounts Committee (22 members — 15 Lok Sabha + 7 Rajya Sabha), the Committee on Estimates (30 members, all from the Lok Sabha) and the Committee on Public Undertakings (22 members — 15 Lok Sabha + 7 Rajya Sabha). Members are elected every year by proportional representation through the single transferable vote, the term is one year, and a minister can never be a member. The chairperson is appointed by the Speaker and is always a Lok Sabha member — a Rajya Sabha member may sit on the PAC or COPU but can never chair it.
MPPSC converted a structural topic into a current-affairs pairing question. If Panda's committee did not come to mind, elimination still works: the PAC-to-Opposition convention makes (a) sound right, and (c) and (d) name two Madhya Pradesh MPs — Kulaste of Mandla and Ganesh Singh of Satna — which MPPSC would be unlikely to print incorrectly. That leaves (b), and the actual Estimates chair was Sanjay Jaiswal.
- PAC: 22 members (15 LS + 7 RS); Estimates: 30 members, all Lok Sabha; Public Undertakings: 22 members (15 LS + 7 RS).
- The Speaker appoints the chairperson of each of these committees, and only a Lok Sabha member can be chairperson; the term is one year.
- Convention since 1967: the Public Accounts Committee is chaired by an Opposition member — K.C. Venugopal in the 18th Lok Sabha.
- The Committee on Welfare of SCs & STs and the Committee on Welfare of OBCs each have 30 members (20 Lok Sabha + 10 Rajya Sabha); the OBC committee was first constituted in 2012.
- 2024-25 appointments: Estimates — Sanjay Jaiswal; Public Undertakings — Baijayant Panda; PAC — K.C. Venugopal.
- Assuming a Rajya Sabha member can chair the PAC — they can be members but never chairperson.
- Mixing up the Estimates Committee (30, all Lok Sabha) with the PAC and COPU (22 each, both Houses).
- Treating committee chairs as permanent — these committees are reconstituted every year, so the names change.
MPPSC pairs a committee with the sitting chairperson from the current year's list; UPSC prefers the structural facts — composition, who appoints the chair, and the CAG link. Prepare both the numbers and the year's names.
Consider the following statements: 1. The Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts is appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. 2. The Committee on Public Accounts comprises members of the Lok Sabha, members of the Rajya Sabha, and a few eminent persons of the industry and trade. Which of the statements given above are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(a) 1 only — the Speaker appoints the PAC Chairman, but the PAC has only MPs, no outside experts
Same concept from the structural side — who appoints these committee chairpersons and who can be on the committee.
Which one of the following is the largest Committee of the Parliament?
- (a) The Committee on Public Accounts
- (b) The Committee on Estimates
- (c) The Committee on Public Undertakings
- (d) The Committee on Petitions
Answer(b) The Committee on Estimates — 30 members, all from the Lok Sabha
Directly about the Estimates Committee — the very committee this MPPSC question mis-pairs.
Consider the following statements : The Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts 1. Consists of not more than 25 Members of the Lok Sabha 2. Scrutinizes appropriation and finance accounts of the Government 3. Examines the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(b) 2 and 3 only — the PAC has 15 Lok Sabha members (22 in all), and it examines the appropriation/finance accounts and the CAG's reports
Tests the same committee's membership numbers and mandate — the background a candidate needs before the chairperson names make sense.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following parliamentary committees has all its members drawn from the Lok Sabha alone?
- (a)Public Accounts Committee
- (b)Committee on Estimates
- (c)Committee on Public Undertakings
- (d)Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Answer(b) Committee on Estimates — 30 members, all elected from the Lok Sabha.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee is:
- (a)elected by the members of the Committee
- (b)appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha
- (c)the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
- (d)the Union Finance Minister
Answer(b) appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, from among the Committee's Lok Sabha members.