Standing Committee on Home Affairs

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Standing Committee on Home Affairs
Department Related Standing Committee
17th Lok Sabha
CountryFlag of India.svg  India
Leadership
Chaiperson Anand Sharma
Chairperson party Indian National Congress
Appointer Lok sabha Speaker
Structure
Seats31
Lok Sabha  : 21
Rajya Sabha  : 10

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs (SCOHA) is a department related standing committee (DRSC) of selected members of parliament, constituted by the Parliament of India, for the purpose of legislative oversight of the domestic policy, internal security and decision making of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is one of the 24 DRSCs that have been mandated with the onerous task of ministry specific oversight.

Contents

The committee currently is headed by MP Anand Sharma. [1] [2]

Current Composition

Each of the committees have 31 members – 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. [2] These members are to be nominated by the Speaker of Lok Sabha or the Chairman of Rajya Sabha respectively. The term of office of these committees does not exceed one year. These committees are serviced either by Lok Sabha secretariat or the Rajya Sabha secretariat, depending on who has appointed the chairman of that committee.

Following are the members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs

10 Members from the Rajya Sabha
Sr. No.NameState LegislatureParty
1 Anand Sharma [2] Himachal Pradesh INC
2 Derek O'Brien [1] West Bengal Trinamool Congress

Comments and reports

Tek Fog

In January 2022, MP Derek O'Brien (Trinamool Congress) and a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs wrote to Anand Sharma, head of the committee to discuss the secret app "Tek Fog" that "has serious ramifications and could jeopardise national security". He wrote, "This application is capable of penetrating encrypted messaging platforms and secure social media conversations, in order to heavily manipulate and exploit narratives on said platforms." [3]

On 12 January, Congress leader and leader of the party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also wrote to the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, Anand Sharma, asking the committee discuss the "Violative Software Application 'Tek Fog'", in their next meeting. [4]

The Parliamentary standing committee asked the Union Home Ministry to provide information about the 'Tek Fog' app that was allegedly used for manipulating social media trends. On 12 February, responding to the request, MoS for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, "The ministry has searched for the app on all prominent app stores and APK stores and could not find so called app in any of these online stores." [5]

Police Reforms

In 2022, the committee submitted to Rajya Sabha, its report titled "Police — Training, Modernisation and Reforms", the committe expressed concern about the low representation of women in police forces, at only 10.30%. [5]

Chairpersons

Sr. No.NameTerm of officeTermsPolitical party

(Alliance)

- Anand Sharma [2] 2019–Present3 INC

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Initiate parliamentary probe into Tek Fog app: Trinamool". The Hindu. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Parliament Panels Reconstituted, Congress Leaders Retained As Chairmen". NDTV.com. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "'Could Jeopardise National Security': Derek O'Brien Wants Standing Committee To Discuss 'Tek Fog'". The Wire. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "After Derek O'Brien, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Asks Standing Committee to Discuss 'Tek Fog'". The Wire. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Supreme Court global leader with 1.81L virtual hearings". Tribuneindia News Service. 12 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
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