Which one of the following is the largest Committee of the Parliament?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

UPSC Civil Services (Prelims) Exam GS Official Paper-I (Held On: 24 Aug 2014)

Answer 1

The Correct Answer is The Committee on Estimates.

The Estimates Committee is the largest Committee of the Parliament.

Key Points Estimates Committee

It has 30 members and all these members are from Lok Sabha.
This committee tries to report the economy and efficiency in expenditures.
The members are elected by Lok Sabha members from amongst themselves every year by principles of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote so that all parties get a due presentation in it.
A minister cannot be elected as member / Chairman of the estimates committee.

Additional InformationThe Committee on Public Accounts

Public Accounts Committee has 22 members of which 15 are from Lok Sabha while 7 from Rajya Sabha.
A minister cannot be a member of PAC.
The Chairman of PAC is appointed by Speaker from its members.
The chairman of PAC is from opposition by convention.
PAC examines the three audit reports of CAG submitted to President viz. audit report on appropriation accounts, an audit report on financial accounts, and the audit report on public undertakings.

The Committee on Public Undertakings

Committee on Public Undertakings has 22 members from both the houses of parliament {15 from Lok Sabha and 7 from Rajya Sabha}.
The chairman of this committee, appointed by the Lok Sabha speaker is always from Lok Sabha.
A minister cannot become chairman of this committee also committed to Public Undertakings examines the reports and accounts of public undertakings and also the CAG audit reports on public undertakings.

The Committee on Petitions

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have their Committee on Petitions.
While the Lok Sabha committee has 15 members, Rajya Sabha has 10 members.
The members of these committees are nominated by Speaker / Chairman as the case may be.
The major function of this committee is to examine every petition referred to it and if the petition complies with the rules to direct that it be circulated.