Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Dr Ashok Kumar Mittal has been appointed as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Rajya Sabha for the Ministry of External Affairs. As such, Dr Mittal is entrusted in the very first term of his being an MP. External Affairs’ Parliamentary Committee is part of the top 5 most important ones.
Other members of the committee from the Rajya Sabha includes Kapil Sibal, Prakash Javadekar, Jaya Bachchan, Ranjan Gogoi (the Ex-Chief Justice of India) and other top MPs. The Chairman of the committee is PP Chaudhary. Other members of the committee from ‘Lok Sabha’ includes Kalyan Banerjee, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Parneet Kaur, Navneet Ravi Rana, Poonam Pramod Mahajan and other top legislators.
Feeling elated on the responsibility entrusted to him by the country, Dr Mittal shares: “I acknowledge that being a committee member is all about working sincerely with the other members of the committee to reach a consensus about the work for the country before it. I promise earnestly to remain up to the expectations of the country.”
The parliamentary committee is also known as a mini legislature. A large part of the discussion on the bills, budget and policy matters takes place in the committees. The recommendation of the Committee is then sent to the House. That is why committees are referred to as miniature legislatures, where committee members make decisions as a collective group.