According to the ‘Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly’, which of the following department’s estimates do not comes under the control of Estimates Committee ‘A’?

Correct — option (2), Home Department.

Rule 231 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly creates two Committees on Estimates, 'A' and 'B', "for the examination of estimates pertaining to different Departments as mentioned in the Fourth Schedule".

The Fourth Schedule, as the Assembly's website carried it in June 2019 (Wayback Machine capture), lists under Estimates Committee 'A' the Public Works Department, the Education Department and the Finance Department, among others.

The Home Department is not in that list. It appears under Estimates Committee 'B', with departments such as Revenue, Agriculture, Election, and Medical and Health.

The later text of the Rules on the Assembly's website (file created November 2023) keeps the same division for this purpose: "Home Department, Police Department, Anti Corruption" sit under Committee 'B'.

The department outside Committee 'A' is option (2), Home Department.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Public Works Department — The Public Works Department is in Committee 'A'. It is item 2 in the list for Estimates Committee 'A' in the Fourth Schedule as captured in June 2019.

  The later text on the Assembly's website also lists the Public Works Department under Committee 'A', as item 3.

• (3)
  Education Department — Education is in Committee 'A'. The Fourth Schedule captured in June 2019 lists the Education Department as item 3 under Estimates Committee 'A'.

  The later text names Elementary, Secondary, Higher, Sanskrit and Technical Education Departments separately, all under Committee 'A'.

• (4)
  Finance Department — Finance is in Committee 'A' in the Fourth Schedule captured in June 2019, where the Finance Department is item 6 under Estimates Committee 'A'.

  The later text has no single Finance Department entry; it names finance-related departments such as Commercial Taxes, Registration and Stamp, Excise, Treasury and Accounts Administration, and Pension under Committee 'A'.

An Estimates Committee examines the estimates of government departments. In Rajasthan the work is split between two committees under Rule 231, each covering the departments listed for it in the Fourth Schedule.

Rule 231A sets their functions: to report what economies, improvements in organisation, efficiency or administrative reform may be effected; to suggest alternative policies for efficiency and economy; and to examine whether the money is well laid out within the policy implied in the estimates.

Under Rule 232, each committee has not more than fifteen members, elected by the House every year by proportional representation through the single transferable vote. A Minister cannot be a member, and the term does not exceed one year, though the Speaker may extend it by up to six months.

The Speaker or the House may vary the allocation of departments between the two committees, under the first proviso to Rule 231.

Key facts

• Rule 231: two Committees on Estimates, 'A' and 'B', examine estimates of the departments listed in the Fourth Schedule.
• Fourth Schedule (Assembly website, June 2019 capture): Committee 'A' includes Public Works, Education and Finance Departments.
• The same Schedule lists the Home Department under Estimates Committee 'B'.
• Rule 232: each Estimates Committee has not more than 15 members elected yearly by single transferable vote; no Minister may be a member.
• Rule 233: demands for grants may be voted even if an Estimates Committee has made no report.

Common traps

• Guessing the committee from a department's size or importance. The Schedule simply lists them: Finance and Education under 'A', Home and Medical and Health under 'B'.
• Treating either text as the one certainly in force in October 2021. The 2019 capture names a single Finance Department, the 2023 text splits finance-related departments, and both put the Home Department under 'B'.
• Confusing the Estimates Committees with the Committee on Public Undertakings, which Rule 231 keeps separate.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under Rule 232 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, members of each Committee on Estimates are —

  • (a)Nominated by the Speaker
  • (b)Elected by the House every year by proportional representation through the single transferable vote
  • (c)Appointed by the Governor on the Chief Minister's advice
  • (d)Elected every five years by simple majority
  Answer(2) — Rule 232: not more than fifteen members, elected by the House every year by proportional representation through the single transferable vote. The Speaker (1) only nominates to casual vacancies, up to one-third; the Governor (3) is not named; the term (4) is one year at most, extendable by the Speaker by six months.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Procedure of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (as the Assembly's website carried it in 2019), which department's estimates fall under Estimates Committee 'B'?

  • (a)Finance Department
  • (b)Forest Department
  • (c)Medical and Health Department
  • (d)Power Department
  Answer(3) — The Medical and Health Department is item 11 under Committee 'B'. The Finance (1), Forest (2) and Power (4) Departments are all listed under Committee 'A'.