JS finance bodies in comatose

The overall disinterest in making the JS bodies work at an optimal level is exacting a heavy price on the efficacy of a parliamentary system of government. First of all, there was shortage of logistic support; secondly, as the chairmen of the three committees themselves commented, there has been negligence on the part of the government and parliament. And lastly, the failure of the parliamentary standing committees themselves to follow the rules of procedure in terms of holding at least one meeting in 30 days has made them grossly underperform. In fact, we had noticed in the past that some of the committees on important ministries did not hold any meetings at all for more than six months since their inception. To top it off, the opposition absenteeism in those bodies rendered them ineffectual to a large extent. There was a suggestion that if the opposition were given chairmanship of some of the oversight committees, the system might have worked, and worked for the better.

It is in the long-term interest of both the major political parties that the parliamentary standing committees are fully formed and functional. This is one area where bipartisan will should be spontaneously forthcoming simply because there is a common, transcending stake in the committee system.

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