Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s personal staff attached to 20 House committees

In an order issued Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said the officers have been attached to the committees “with immediate effect and until further orders”. These officers are expected to assist the committees in their work, which includes meetings that are confidential in nature.

An official with the Vice President’s office said, “The whole idea was to supplement the staff and officer support to the respective committees. In the same vein, research persons from LAARDIS (Library, Research, Documentation and Information Service) have also been posted. In the Lok Sabha, only upto Director-level persons are posted. These measures will help in terms of research inputs to the committees as well as the exposure of officers to different facets of Rajya Sabha.”

However, the order drew strong criticism from the Opposition.

While Congress’s Rajya Sabha chief whip Jairam Ramesh questioned the “logic or necessity” behind the move, former Rajya Sabha MP and CPI general secretary D Raja said it was “violative of established Parliamentary procedures”.

“I am unable to understand the logic or necessity of this move. All committees of the Rajya Sabha already have competent staff drawn from the Secretariat. These are committees of the Rajya Sabha and not of the Chairman. There has been no consultation whatsoever,” said Ramesh, who is also Chairman of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology.

RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said: “What is the rationale behind such a move, which fundamentally goes against the very idea and structure of standing committees?”

Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari tweeted: “VP is Chairperson of Council of States Ex-Officio. He is not a Member of House like Vice Chairperson or panel of Vice Chairpersons. How can he appoint personal staff on Parliamentary Standing Committees? Would this not tantamount to institutional subversion?”

Former Lok Sabha secretary general P D T Achary told The Indian Express that as per the definition of Parliamentary committees, only MPs and staff of either the Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha secretariats can offer such roles of assistance.

“There is no rule under which the Speaker or the Chairman can appoint their personal staff to assist the committees. The definition of Parliamentary committees is very clear that they comprise only the members (MPs) and officers of the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha secretariat for assistance. Personal staff of the Speaker or the Chairman are not part of Parliamentary secretariats. So far, no such appointments have been made,” Achary said.

There are in total 24 standing committees, each made up of 21 Lok Sabha MPs and 10 Rajya Sabha MPs. Out of the 24, 16 work under the jurisdiction of the Lok Sabha Speaker, and eight come under the purview of the Rajya Sabha chairman.

Most bills, after their introduction in the House, are referred to these committees for detailed examination. The speaker and the chairman are authorised to do so based on demands by the MPs.

The committees carry out the scrutiny work in consultation with domain experts. Written representations are also invited from people at large. The ministers and government officials concerned are also asked to make submissions before the committees.