KATHMANDU, Sept 18: With the Federal Parliament’s Budget Session ending one and a half months earlier than in previous years, the responsibilities of parliament now lie with the "mini parliaments." After the Budget Session concluded on September 16, the parliamentary committees, often referred to as the mini parliaments, are expected to become more active.

On Wednesday, only the meeting of the House of Representatives’ Finance Committee and the National Assembly’s Committee on Federalism Enablement and National Concerns was scheduled. There are 14 committees in both the House of Representatives and the National Assembly, with two joint committees comprising members of both houses.

Primarily, the thematic committees, designated by ministries, are now expected to hold the government accountable on contemporary issues. These committees are tasked with monitoring the implementation of laws passed by parliament, overseeing black-market activities and the sale of adulterated food, inquiring about the work of the prime minister and ministers, and increasing surveillance on the government’s activities.

In addition, the committees must continue the process of drafting laws. However, past experiences show that committees often face a lack of quorum, which hinders discussions when parliament is not in session.

“If the committees fail to focus on the government’s activities when parliament is not in session, irregularities in the government cannot be investigated, and bad practices may increase,” said an official from the Parliament’s Secretariat.

“There are significant national festivals like Dashain, Tihar, and Chhath, during which members of parliament are likely to return to their districts and may only come back to the capital after Chhath. Considering this, the Speaker and Chairperson must direct the committees to ensure that their work continues,” he added.

According to him, parliamentary committees must function effectively by September, and after Dashain, their work is expected to resume from mid-October, following Tihar and Chhath. Members of parliament are expected to balance their duties between parliament and their constituencies. However, if they only focus on their constituencies at the expense of parliamentary work, the effectiveness of parliament will be compromised.

As the winter session of parliament will only convene after December, if the parliamentary committees do not monitor, discuss, and oversee government activities during this time period, staff at the Parliament Secretariat will have nothing to do but routine administrative work, he noted.

Parliamentary committees are the only bodies that can summon detailed documents of government activities. These documents are often made public through the media, which makes parliamentary committees an important institution in the democratic process.