Which one of the following statements about the Estimates Committee of the Parliament is not correct?
The term of office of the Committee is five years.
The Committee suggests alternative policies.
The Committee examines Money Bill.
The Committee suggests the form in which estimates shall be presented to the Parliament.
Answer is Right!
Answer is Wrong!
This question was previously asked in
UPSC CBI DSP LDCE – 2023
A) The term of office of the Committee is five years. This is incorrect. The term of office of the members of the Estimates Committee, like other financial committees such as the Public Accounts Committee and Committee on Public Undertakings, is one year.
B) The Committee suggests alternative policies. This is correct. The Committee suggests alternative policies in the interest of economy and efficiency.
C) The Committee examines Money Bill. This is incorrect. The Estimates Committee examines the estimates presented to Parliament as part of the budget. It scrutinises the economy in incurring expenditure *within the policy approved by Parliament*. It does not examine the Money Bill itself, which is a legislative instrument.
D) The Committee suggests the form in which estimates shall be presented to the Parliament. This is correct. One of its functions is to suggest the form in which the estimates are to be presented to Parliament.
The question asks for the statement that is *not* correct. Both A and C are incorrect. However, standard UPSC practice usually intends one single incorrect statement as the answer. The term length (A) being 5 years instead of 1 year is a clear and fundamental factual error about the committee’s structure. Statement C is also incorrect regarding the committee’s function/scope. Given the options and common knowledge about parliamentary committees, the term length error (A) is a highly probable intended answer for an “incorrect statement” question.