A useful message from TIB study

But the committees have not had a smooth sailing, thanks to some inhibitory factors. Statistics should make the point clear: out of the 37 committees, 27 failed to hold one meeting per month as per the rules of procedures, which certainly does not point to a robust presence of the parliamentary watchdogs. Worse still, the ministers and state ministers concerned attended only 42 per cent of the meetings held, which again shows that the committees could not even strongly initiate the process of dislodging the monster of corruption, let alone other evils. The attitude of the ministers and state ministers was non-cooperative. Clearly, wherever the committees made any attempt to have a shot at corruption, it was effectively scuttled by the ministries concerned.

The result was not unexpected. The committees remained busy with less important, peripheral issues which would never ruffle the feathers of any influential minister. That, of course, defeated the main purpose of having such parliamentary bodies. After all, containing corruption at the highest level of administration was a matter of great importance that the committees should have been able to address with some degree of success.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

That said, we felicitate the TIB for the substantive work that it has done on the working of our parliamentary system. It has served the nation, the JS, the MPs and the ministers well. TIB has given us a comprehensive picture of the performance of the parliament and has brought to light some of the weaknesses of the parliamentary committees which remained shut out from the public view.

The TIB study has also made it clear that the committee system can work well only when the ministries and others concerned have the compulsion, as part of democratic norms and culture, to cooperate with the committees -- a point that should be taken note of.