By Raju Kumar
BHOPAL: In India’s democratic structure, legislatures are not merely institutions for making laws—they also serve as powerful platforms for holding the executive accountable, ensuring financial discipline, and scrutinizing administrative actions in the public interest. Legislative committees form a foundational mechanism for achieving these goals.
In a significant development, a meeting of the Special Committee formed to review, strengthen, and redefine the committee system was recently convened at the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Bhopal. The objective was to assess the current functioning of legislative committees, explore ways to enhance their efficiency, and devise strategies to make them more accountable and result-oriented.
The seeds of this Bhopal meeting were sown at the 82nd All India Presiding Officers’ Conference held in Shimla in November 2021. This conference carried symbolic weight as well—it marked the centenary of the first such meeting held in Shimla in 1921. At the 2021 gathering, there was a shared realization that while the committee system lies at the heart of democracy, it must be redefined in the context of modern administrative and technological challenges. In response, the Shimla conference passed a resolution to constitute a Special Committee comprising Presiding Officers from various State Legislatures. Its primary purpose to ensure that legislative committees evolve beyond ceremonial roles and become effective tools for enforcing executive accountability. The Bhopal meeting, held in July 2025, is the realization of that historic commitment.
The meeting was presided over by Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar. The Speakers from six other states who participated were Mr. Satish Mahana (Uttar Pradesh), Mr. Vasudev Devnani (Rajasthan), Mr. Kuldeep Singh Pathania (Himachal Pradesh), Mr. Biman Banerjee (West Bengal), Mrs. Surama Padhy (Odisha), and Mr. Mingma Norbu Sherpa (Sikkim). Principal Secretaries and officials from the respective assemblies were also present.
India’s parliamentary and legislative institutions play a pivotal role in its democratic processes. However, the level of granular scrutiny that is required is often difficult to achieve during regular sessions due to time constraints and the packed nature of legislative business. This makes the committee system essential. Legislative committees not only conduct detailed studies of bills but also track government promises, review administrative operations, and evaluate the performance of public schemes.
Even in the Lok Sabha, multiple committees are constituted, including those focusing on budgetary matters. These bodies deliberate, scrutinize, and make recommendations based on detailed assessments. When the House is not in session, committees effectively function as legislative substructures, continuing critical work in legislative, financial, and administrative oversight. Some state assemblies elect committee members, while in other cases, members are nominated by the Speaker.
Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar, Speaker of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, outlined the structure of Madhya Pradesh’s committees, which include four financial committees that are elected. Additionally, two more elected committees focus on Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes. Around 16 other committees are constituted through nomination by the Speaker, based on consensus between the ruling and opposition parties. These committees conduct field visits, carry out in-depth studies, and inspect government departments. They summon departmental officials when needed and engage in issue-based consultations. Their reports and recommendations address a range of topics, including assurances made by the government, unanswered questions in the House, welfare concerns of legislators, and other matters of public interest. In the legislative, financial, and administrative domains, these committees play a critical role in asserting legislative oversight over the executive.
As India advances toward a digital democracy, adapting the committee system to meet the demands of this transformation is imperative. Tools such as e-Vidhan (electronic legislature), virtual meetings, and digital reporting can enhance the efficiency and responsiveness of committees. The Shimla conference had accordingly proposed the idea of a “One Nation–One Legislative Platform” to digitally integrate all state legislatures. Progress on this front has been significant. In Bhopal, a special emphasis was placed on integrating committee operations within an e-governance framework to promote transparency, timeliness, and accessibility. One of the prominent suggestions was to place committee reports in the public domain—enabling civil society and the media to participate meaningfully in the oversight of governance.
The meeting also explored the need to grant committees greater autonomy and equip them with specialized research and analytical resources. A clear recommendation emerged: committee suggestions should not be viewed as mere inputs but should have real influence in the policymaking process. Another notable proposal was to identify best practices from various state legislatures and use them to draft a national code of conduct or operational guideline for committees.
With consolidated data on committee functioning across states, a comprehensive strategic roadmap can be envisioned. The Bhopal meeting represents a concrete step toward a deeper reassessment of India’s legislative committee architecture. There is growing hope that, moving forward, legislative committees will evolve into stronger instruments of accountable governance and dynamic representation of the public will. (IPA Service)
