The Committee on Public Undertakings was established in 1964 following the recommendation of the Krishna Menon Committee. Initially, it had 15 members, but in 1974, its membership was increased to 22 (15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha).
Key details about the committee:
- Membership: The members are elected annually by Parliament from its own members according to proportional representation and single transferable vote, ensuring representation from all parties. The term of office is one year.
- Exclusion of Ministers: Ministers cannot be committee members.
- Chairmanship: The Speaker appoints the chairman from the Lok Sabha members of the committee. Rajya Sabha members cannot be chairman.
Functions of the committee:
- Examine the reports and accounts of public undertakings.
- Review reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General on public undertakings.
- Check whether public undertakings' affairs are managed according to sound business principles and prudent commercial practices.
- Perform other functions related to public undertakings as assigned by the Speaker.
Limitations of the committee:
- It can only examine 10 to 12 public undertakings annually.
- Its work is retrospective in nature (post-mortem).
- Members are not technical experts, so technical matters are not reviewed in depth.
- Recommendations are advisory and not binding on ministries.
