Parliamentary Forums

Parliamentary Forums are established in order to provide a platform for interaction and discussion of critical issues with the ministers concerned.

This article will give details about Parliamentary Forums within the context of the IAS Exam

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Establishment of Parliamentary Forums

The first Parliamentary Forum on Water Conservation and Management was constituted in the year 2005. Subsequently, seven more Parliamentary Forums were constituted.

At present, there are eight Parliamentary forums. They are as follows:

1. Parliamentary Forum on Water Conservation and Management (2005)
2. Parliamentary Forum on Youth (2006)
3. Parliamentary Forum on Children (2006)
4. Parliamentary Forum on Population and Public Health (2006)
5. Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change (2008)
6. Parliamentary Forum on Disaster Management (2011)
7. Parliamentary Forum on Artisans and Crafts-people (2013)
8. Parliamentary Forum on Millenium Development Goals (2013)

Objectives of Parliamentary Forums

The objectives behind the formation of Parliamentary Forums are as follows:

1. To provide a platform for members to have interactions with the ministers concerned, experts and key officials from the nodal ministries with a view to have a focused and meaningful discussion on critical issues with a result-oriented approach for speeding up the implementation process.
2. To sensitise members about the key areas of concern and also about the ground level situation and equip them with the latest information, knowledge, technical know-how and valuable inputs from experts both from the country and abroad for enabling them to raise these issues effectively on the Floor of the House and in the meetings of the Departmentally-Related Standing Committees (DRSC).
3. To prepare a data-base through collections of data on critical issues from ministries concerned, reliable NGOs, newspaper, United Nations, Internet etc and circulation thereof to the members so that they can be meaningful participation in the discussion of the forums and seek clarifications from experts or officials from the Ministry present in the meetings.

It has been mandated that the Parliamentary Forum will not interfere with or encroach upon the jurisdiction of the Departmentally-Related Standing Committees of the Ministry /Department Concerned.

Composition of the Parliamentary Forums

The speaker of Lok Sabha is the ex-officio President of all the Forums except the Parliamentary Forum on Population and Public Health wherein the Chairman of Rajya Sabha is the ex-officio President and the Speaker is the ex-officio Co-President.

The Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, the concerned Ministers, and the Chairman of department-related Standing Committees are the ex-officio Vice-Presidents of the respective forums.

Each forum consists of not more than 31 members (excluding the President, Co-President, and Vice-President)

The duration of the office of members of the forum is co-terminus with their membership in the respective Houses. A member may also resign from the forum by writing to the speaker chairman.

Parliamentary Forums- Download PDF Here

Functions of the Parliamentary Forum

The functions of the various Parliamentary Forums are listed below:

Parliamentary Forum on Water Conservation and Management

1. To identify problems relating to water and make suggestions for consideration and appropriate action by Government/organisations concerned.
2. To identify the ways of involving members of Parliament in conservation and augmentation of water resources in their respective states/constituencies.
3. To organise seminars/workshops to create awareness for conservation and efficient management of water.
4. To undertake such other related tasks as it may deem fit.

Parliamentary Forum on Youth

1. To have focused deliberation on strategies to leverage human capital in the youth for accelerating development initiatives.
2. To build greater awareness amongst public leaders and at the grassroots level of the potential of youth for effecting socio-economic change.
3. To interact on a regular basis with youth representatives and leaders, in order to better appreciate their hopes, aspirations, concerns and problems.
4. To consider ways for improving Parliament outreach to different sections of youth, in order to reinforce their faith and commitment in democratic institutions and encourage their active participation therein.

Parliamentary Forum on Children

1. To further enhance awareness and attention of Parliamentarians towards critical issues affecting children’s well-being so that they may provide due leadership to ensure rightful pace in the development process.
2. To provide a platform to Parliamentarians to exchange ideas, views, experiences, expert practices in relation to children, in a structured manner, through workshops, seminars, orientation programmes etc.
3. To provide Parliamentarians an interface with civil society for highlighting children’s issues and thereby to recommend effective strategic partnerships in this regard.
4. To undertake any other tasks, projects, assignments etc as the Forum may deem fit.

Parliamentary Forum on Population and Public Health

1. To have focused deliberation on strategies relating to population stabilization and matters connected therewith.
2. To discuss and prepare strategies on issues concerning public health.
3. To build greater awareness in all sections of the society, particularly at the grass-roots level, regarding propulsion control and public health.
4. To hold comprehensive dialogue and discussion in the matter of population and public health with experts at the national and international levels and to have interaction with multilateral organisations like WHO, United Nations Population Fund, and academicians and governor agency concerned.

Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change

1. To identify problems relating to global warming and climate change and make suggestions/recommendations for consideration and appropriate action by the government/organisations concerned to reduce the extent of global warming.
2. To identify the ways of involving members of Parliament to interact with specialists of national and international bodies working on global warming and climate change with increased effort to develop new technologies to mitigate global warming.
3. To identify ways of involving members of Parliament to spread awareness to prevent global warming and climate change.

Parliamentary Forum on Disaster Management

1. To identify problems during Disaster Management and make suggestions/ recommendations for consideration and appropriate action by the Government/ organisations concerned to reduce the effects of disasters.
2. To identify ways of involving Members of Parliaments to interact with specialist of National and International bodies working on Disaster Management with increased efforts to develop new technologies to mitigate the effect of disasters
3. To organise seminars/ workshops to create awareness about the causes and effects of disasters among the Members of Parliament.

Parliamentary Forum on Artisans and Craftspeople

1. To further enhance awareness and attention to Parliamentarians towards critical issues affecting artisans and craftspeople so as to preserve and promote traditional art and crafts through various mechanisms.
2. To provide a platform for Parliamentarians to exchange ideas, views, experiences, expertise, and best practices in relation to artisans and craftspeople in a structured manner.
3. To hold comprehensive dialogue and discussion on the matters relating to the preservation of art and traditional craft and the promotions of artisans and craftspeople with experts/Organisations at the national and international levels.

Parliamentary Forums on millennium Development Goals

1. To review and enhance awareness and attention of Parliamentarians towards critical issues which have baring towards the achievements of goals/targets set under Millenium Development Goals by 2015
2. To provide Parliamentarians an interface with civil society for highlighting issues related to Millenium Development Goals viz. Eradication of poverty; hunger; achievement of universal education; empowerment of women; combating HIV/AIDS; Malaria and other diseases; and developing a sustainable partnership for development.

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