Context: Amid the on-going India-China border tension, a Parliamentary Standing Committee report on Sino-India relations post the Doklam standoff has been released. It assumes significance as it is the only detailed report on the border issue that has been made available to the public.
Report on Sino-Indian relations post Doklam

• Submitted by the Shashi Tharoor-led Standing Committee on External Affairs, the report on Sino-India relations including Doklam throws light on border situation and cooperation in international organisations,
• This Standing Committee report – a bipartisan one as the committee has members from ruling and opposition parties – is one of the very few documents available in which the defence and foreign secretaries.
• It clarified the government’s official position on India-China border issues including the reported transgressions by the Chinese in the region.
• It had cautioned the government that it needed to have “healthy scepticism” while dealing with China.
• The Committee has urged the Government not to let its vigil down in order to prevent any untoward incident in future.

What are Parliamentary Committees?

• Parliamentary committees are established to study and deal with various matters that cannot be directly handled by the legislature due to their volume and complexity.
• These committees are made up of MPs either from one or both Houses.
• Both Houses of Parliament have a similar committee structure, with a few exceptions.
• Their appointment, terms of office, functions and procedure of conducting business are also more or less similar.
• They are regulated as per rules made by the two Houses under Article 118(1) of the Constitution.
• Broadly, Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds - Standing Committees and ad hoc Committees.
• The former are elected or appointed every year or periodically and their work goes on, more or less, on a continuous basis.
• The latter are appointed on an ad hoc basis as need arises and they cease to exist as soon as they complete the task assigned to them.

How does it work?

A bill can usually be referred to a parliamentary committee in 3 ways.

• First, the minister piloting the bill can seek the permission of the House to refer the Bill to a committee.
• Second, the Chairman/Speaker has the discretion in referring the bill to a committee.
• Usually, when ministers are trying to build political consensus on a bill, they welcome its referring to a committee.
• However, when in a hurry, they impress upon the Chairman/ Speaker not to refer the bill to a committee. This is when the third mechanism comes into play.
• When a bill reaches a House where the government does not have a majority, the MPs can mobilise the numbers to move a motion to refer the bill to a committee.
• However, there is an additional dimension to the scrutiny of bills by committees.
• Whenever the government and Opposition are at extremes in terms of the provisions, the bills are generally not referred to a committee.