On Thursday, the BJP-led NDA government referred the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024, to a joint committee of Parliament. This move marks a departure from the trend observed during the first two terms of the Narendra Modi government, which saw fewer Bills being sent to parliamentary committees compared to the Congress-led UPA era.

According to PRS Legislative Research, only 16% of Bills in the 17th Lok Sabha and 25% in the 16th Lok Sabha were referred to committees for detailed examination. This contrasts sharply with the UPA years, where 60% of Bills were referred to committees during the 14th Lok Sabha and 71% during the 15th Lok Sabha.

In the 17th Lok Sabha, four Bills have been sent to joint committees. For instance:

• The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill was referred to a Rajya Sabha Select Committee.
• The Biological Diversity Amendment Bill, 2021, was reviewed by a joint committee led by Sanjay Jaiswal, which held 15 meetings before presenting its report on August 2, 2022.
• The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022, was examined by a 31-member joint committee under P.P. Chaudhary, which met 10 times before its report was laid in the Rajya Sabha on March 17, 2023.
• The Multi State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was discussed by a joint committee chaired by C.P. Joshi, which held eight meetings before tabling its report on March 15, 2023.
• The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, was reviewed by a joint committee led by Prof. Rajendra Agrawal, which met nine times and presented its report on July 20, 2023.

In the 16th Lok Sabha, notable Bills referred to joint committees included:

• The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015, which was reviewed by a committee under S.S. Ahluwalia, holding 26 meetings.
• The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, examined by a 30-member joint committee chaired by Satyapal Singh.
• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015, and the Financial Regulation and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017, both of which underwent detailed scrutiny by joint committees.

Joint committees, composed of members from both Houses and various parties, serve as smaller bodies within Parliament to provide focused attention and detailed examination of complex issues.