Article 10(11) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan and Section 293 of the National Assembly Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan 2008 mandates the House to appoint committees in order to carry out the business of the Parliament. The Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly governs the functioning of the committees.
The National Assembly of the First Parliament had 14 Committees, which was reduced to 10 Committees in the Second Parliament. The National Assembly of the Third Parliament has 9 Standing Committees including the House Committee. The number of Committees and its members are determined by the House. The Public Accounts Committee is a Constitutional Committee which has members from the National Assembly and the National Council. The Chairperson of the Legislative Committee of the National Assembly is a member to the National Judicial Commission.
There shall be a Legislative committee consisting of five to eleven members. The Terms of Reference of the committee shall be:
The Committee shall review and report to the Parliament on:
The duties of the Committee are to review, examine, evaluate and report on the financial and administrative activities of any agency cited in the Public Accounts and the Annual Audit Report of Royal Audit Authority.
There shall be a Foreign Relations committee consisting of five to eleven members.
The Terms of Reference of the committee shall be:
a) Review and recommend amendments of the existing laws and policies relating to Foreign Relations and also propose new legislations;
b) Review Bhutan’s engagement with bilateral countries, UN and international organizations including establishment of Embassies to ensure that Bhutan’s foreign policies are consistent with its national objectives;
c) Recommend measures to foster political, economic and trade ties with foreign nations;
d) Recommend measures for protection of Bhutanese interests abroad; and
e) Review and recommend Treaties and Conventions to be entered into by the government.
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There shall be a Social and Cultural committee consisting of five to eleven members.
The Terms of Reference of the committee shall be:
a) Review and recommend amendments of the existing laws and policies relating to Social and Cultural issues and also propose new legislations;
b) Recommend appropriate measures for promotion and preservation of language, traditions, religion, arts and crafts, and cultural heritage;
c) Review whether poverty elevation programmes/ projects carried out by the concerned ministries/organizations achieve their intended objectives;
d) Review and study budget allocation formula for poverty reduction, balanced development, and report to the House;
e) Promotion awareness amongst the population on the stakeholders’ initiatives towards reducing poverty;
f) Review, inquire and investigate any matters that is brought to the notice of the committee;
g) Interact with relevant national, regional and international organizations and stakeholders;
h) Review and report to the house on the status of implementation of the resolution related to their respective area of concern by the government and other relevant agencies;
i) Carry out any other issues related to their respective area of concern referred to by the House and submit the findings, opinions and recommendations; and
j) Review poverty reduction strategies, programmes and recommend changes.
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There shall be a Good Governance Committee consisting of five to eleven Members.
The Terms of Reference of the committee shall be:
a) Review and recommend amendments of the existing laws and policies relating to culture, poverty reduction, good governance including corporation governance, ICT and media, and also propose new legislations;
b) Review and study the status of the quality of public service delivery by the government ministries and agencies including the public corporations;
c) Review, inquire and investigate any matter that is brought to the notice of the committee;
d) Interact with relevant national, regional and international organizations and stakeholders;
e) Review and report to the House on the status of implementation of the resolutions related to their respective area of concern by the government and other relevant agencies;
f) Carry out any other issues related to their respective area of concern referred to by the House and submit the findings, opinions and recommendations; and
g) Study and report on the annual anti-corruption report to the House.
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There shall be an Environment and Urban Development committee consisting of five to eleven members.
The Terms of Reference of the committee shall be:
a) Review and recommend amendments of the existing laws and policies relating to Environment, Land and Urban Development;
b) Review and recommend possible course of actions on matters affecting the general public related to Environment, Land and Urban Development;
c) Review, inquire and investigate any matters that is brought to the notice of the committee;
d) Interact with relevant national, regional and international organizations and stakeholders;
e) Review and report to the house on the status of implementation of the resolution related to their respective area of concern by the government and other relevant agencies;
f) Carry out any other issues related to their respective area of concern referred to by the House and submit the findings, opinions and recommendations; and
g) The committee may assume the responsibility of the issues pertaining to the matters related to agriculture and natural disaster.
View More | View MembersThere shall be a Women and Children committee consisting of five to eleven members.
The Terms of Reference of the committee shall be:
a) Review and recommend amendments of the existing laws and policies relating to Women, Children and Youth and also propose new legislations;
b) Review, inquire and investigate any matter that is brought to the notice of the committee;
c) Support promotion of the rights of women and children.
d) Interact with relevant National, Regional and International Organizations and Stakeholders;
e) Review and report to the House on the status of implementation of the resolutions of the National Assembly related to Women, Children and Youth by the Government and other relevant Agencies;
f) Carry out any other issues related to Women, Children and Youth referred to by the House and submit its findings, opinions and recommendations; and
g) Ensure that legislations passed by the National Assembly are gender neutral.
View More | View MembersThere shall be a House Committee consisting of a Member each from the National Assembly Committees and representatives from the opposition party.
The House Committee is appointed to consider any matter referred to it by the House or the Speaker.
The Terms of Reference of the committee shall be:
a) Unlike other committees, this committee will deal with the matters related to the Members of the National Assembly
b) Represent all members of the National Assembly and report their administration problems to the Secretariat;
c) Will look into the problems and welfare of the Members of the National Assembly;
d) Consider all issues raised by the non-committee members;
e) Consider all trainings, seminars, conferences, study tours and other HR related matters of the Members of the National Assembly;
f) Consider all logistics issues of the Members of the National Assembly;
g) Be responsible for all public relations of the members of the National Assembly;
h) Review, inquire and investigate any matter that is brought to the notice of the committee;
i) Oversee the moral and ethical conduct of members of National Assembly;
j) Examine complaints/cases of unethical conducts of Members of the National Assembly or connected with the parliamentary misconduct referred to it and make recommendations;
k) Review and recommend amendments of the provisions of code of conduct of Members of National Assembly;
l) Interact with relevant national, regional and international organizations and stakeholders;
m) Consider all issues related to the entitlements of the Members of the National Assembly; and
n) Any other matters related to the Members of the National Assembly.
View More | View MembersTerms of Reference of the committee
(1) The Committee shall review, deliberate and debate on Socio-Economic Development matters including Private Sector Development and submit recommendations and resolutions to the Parliament.
(2) The Committee shall review, deliberate and debate on National Budget, National Financial Statements and any other fiscal matters and submit recommendations and resolutions to the Parliament.
(3) The Committee shall review, deliberate and debate on Monetary, Money, Finance and Taxation Matters and submit recommendations and resolutions to the Parliament.
(4) The Committee shall review, deliberate and debate on National Debt, National Borrowings, National Reserve and any other economic parameters and submit recommendations and resolutions to the Parliament.
(5) The recommendations and resolutions submitted to the Parliament could be of both policy and legislative reforms in nature.
(6) The Committee may review and reallocate the budget to achieve balanced development as per Article 9 (8) of the Constitution;
(7) The Committee shall present its reviewed Budget Report within ten working days after the introduction by Finance Minister in the House.
(8) The Committee shall advocate innovation and mainstreaming of GNH for Business and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Corporate and Private Sector.
(9) The Committee shall review and report on the status of implementation of the resolutions of the preceding sessions referred to it by the House.
(10) The Committee shall review on any other issues referred to it by the House or on any issues of national importance that the Committee deemed important to be reviewed on its own and submit the findings and recommendations to the Parliament;
(11) Review, inquire and investigate any matters that are brought to the notice of the Committee; and
(12) The Committee shall interact with relevant national, regional and international organizations and stakeholders.
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