Article 76 of the Constitution of Bangladesh provides that Parliament shall appoint from among its members the following standing committees :-

( a ) a public accounts committee;

( b ) committee of privileges; and

( c ) such other standing committees as the rules of procedure of Parliament require.

In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 75 (1 )( a ) of the Constitution, Parliament framed its own rules of procedure and adopted those rules on July 22, 1974. Meanwhile, there have been several amendments to rules of procedure. The rules of procedure guide and regulate functional details, overall operation and terms of reference of the parliamentary committees. The parliamentary standing committees are generally grouped into such categories as ministerial committees, for example, Committee on Ministry of Commerce, Committee on Ministry of Industries etc.; finance and audit committees; and a number of other committees of standing nature, for instance, Committee on Private Members' Bills and Resolutions, Committee of Privileges, Committee on Government Assurances, Committee on Rules of Procedure etc.

The parliamentary standing committees that are of greater interest to general public are ministerial committees, and finance and audit committees. According to rules of procedure, the functions of a standing committee on a ministry are to examine any bill or other matter referred to it by Parliament, to review the works relating to a ministry which falls within its jurisdiction, to inquire into any activity or irregularity and serious complaint in respect of the ministry and to examine, if it deems fit, any such other matter as may fall within its jurisdiction and to make recommendations. Finance and audit committees namely, Committee on Public Accounts, Committee on Estimates and Committee on Public Undertakings, "are considered as special mechanisms of the Sangsad to perform its supervisory role over the government expenditures."

Rule 246 of rules of procedure provides that Parliament shall, as soon as may be, after the inauguration of each new Parliament, appoint the standing committees on each ministry. Unfortunately, these committees have not been effective to the desired level due to a number of reasons. The guidance provided by rules of procedure to appoint the standing committees on ministries " as soon as may be, after the inauguration of each new Parliament" has not been followed during the last ten years or so. During the period of the immediate past AL government, only a few parliamentary standing committees without the inclusion of lawmakers from the then main opposition party BNP were appointed after sixteen months from the date of inauguration ( July 14, 1996 ) of the 7th Parliament.

After submission of names of BNP lawmakers, all the committees including the previously appointed 14 committees came to be constituted in full shape on May 12, 1998 that is, almost after two years from the date of inauguration of the 7th Parliament. Parliamentary committees without incorporating lawmakers from the main opposition party AL were formed after a year from the date of inauguration of the current ( 8th ) Parliament. After the submission of names of the AL lawmakers the committees came to be reconstituted in their full shape on September 16 last that is, almost after three years from the date of inauguration of the 8th Parliament. This has undoubtedly deterred the effective functioning of the committees during the period.

Secondly, for functioning of a democratic system there is the need for mutual respect between the major political parties. But this has been conspicuously absent. Prior to an amendment in rules of procedure in the fifth session of the 7th Parliament, ministers themselves headed the standing committees on ministries. The amendment provided that no minister but only a member of Parliament would be eligible for chairmanship of each of the standing committees. According to an analyst, ' this was done to give impetus to the committees for effectively demanding executive accountability.' The then AL government deserves appreciation for the amendment. But the AL government was not sagacious enough to accommodate the then main opposition party BNP's request to allocate chairmanship of some committees. The present BNP led alliance government has set the same example by denying chairmanship of any committee to AL, the main opposition party in the House. Allocating chairmanship of some committees to the lawmakers of the opposition parties, particularly to the main opposition party's lawmakers, will not only set an example of mutual respect, it will also help the work of a committee to be more transparent.

Thirdly, the report of a parliamentary standing committee is presented to the House for debate. Implementation of only those decisions that are taken by the House after full-fledged debates becomes obligatory on the ministries and others concerned. This establishes the fact that unless adopted by the House, implementation of recommendations made by the parliamentary standing committees in their meetings is not obligatory on the ministries and others concerned. This reminds us of the demand made sometimes back by chairmen of the parliamentary standing committees for increasing the powers of these committees.

Fourthly, chairmen of the standing committees remain under pressure of the party high ups. It may be recalled that when prices of the essentials had started spiralling even before the start of the last Holy Ramadan, the Ministry of Commerce shifted the blame on the free market economy. But the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Commerce rejected the Commerce Ministry's report ( November 5, 2003 ) on the price hike and formed a sub-committee 'to identify the persons who let the situation out of control.' People are yet to know the fate of the inquiry. Rumour goes that the inquiry was shelved due to pressure from high ups in the government.

One recent instance regarding an administrative ministry's reluctance to implement recommendations of the parliamentary committee may be cited. The newspapers reported in August last that when the management of the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited transferred 18 employees, mostly meter readers, in line with the recommendation of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the State Minister of that ministry "did not agree to it." Top officials including the managing director of the company had to work under police protection due to threat from the government backed trade union. The State Minister, however, later asked the Titas authorities to transfer the employees "under pressure from the parliamentary body."

A number of such cases were reported in the press during the period of the immediate past AL government. It is beyond any doubt that parliamentary committees could be the most effective instrument of parliamentary oversight if they could effectively discharge their assigned responsibilities. But this has not always happened due to reasons stated above and some other reasons. Public Administration Reforms Commission in its report ( vol. 1) of June, 2000 has observed, " The activities of the standing committees are usually confined to review of some routine findings of Ministries and their Agencies rather than in-depth investigation into budgetary and implementation performance."

The press has been appreciative of the AL decision for nominating its lawmakers in the parliamentary standing committees. The Daily Star's editorial of September 20 urged AL to join the parliamentary standing committees without further deliberation on the issue. The editorial concluded with the advice that "people will take what they say outside the House more seriously if they participate in the working of the committee system." Democracy loving people of the country are eager to see that democratic institutions function properly. BNP led alliance government may rethink to allocate chairmanship of some parliamentary committees to the opposition parties, in particular to the main opposition party. Rules of procedure has provision for reconstitution of committees of the House. The allocation of chairmanship of some parliamentary committees to the opposition parties will set a good precedent in our parliamentary democracy. Who knows BNP will not be benefited from this in future.

M. Abdul Latif Mondal is a former Secretary to the government