GUIDELINES AND INSTRUCTIONS ON ASSURANCES –FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Doubts have been expressed by various Divisions of this Ministry Vis-à-vis handling Parliamentary Assurances. The following instructions may be adhered to while handling Parliamentary Assurances.

DEFINITION: During the course of reply given to a question or a discussion, if a Minister gives an undertaking which involves further action on the part of the Government in reporting back to the House, it is called an ‘assurance’.

DROPPING OF ASSURANCE: Requests for dropping of Assurance should have the approval of Hon’ble Minister and this fact should be indicated in the communication containing the request to the Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha Secretariat. If such a request is made towards the end of the stipulated period of three months, then it should invariably be accompanied with a request for extension of time. The department should continue to seek extension of time till a decision of the Committee on Government Assurances is received by them. Copy of the above communications should be simultaneously endorsed to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

EXTENSION OF TIME FOR FULFILLING ASSURANCE: If the department finds that it is not possible to fulfil the assurance within the stipulated period of three months or within the period of extension already granted, it may seek further extension of time direct from the respective Committee on Government Assurances under intimation to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, indicating the reasons for delay and the probable additional time required.Such a communication should be issued with the approval of the Minister.

ROCEDURE FOR FULFILLMENT OF ASSURANCE: Information of an assurance should be approved by the Minister concerned and 15 copies thereof (bilingual) in the prescribed proforma, together with its enclosures, along with one copy each in Hindi and English duly authenticated by the officer forwarding the implementation report, should be sent to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.The implementation reports should be sent to the Ministry of the Parliamentary Affairs and not to the Lok/Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

LAYING OF IMPLEMENTATION REPORT: A copy of the statement, as laid on the Table, will be forwarded by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to the member as well as the department concerned. The Parliament Unit of the department concerned and the concerned section will, on the basis of this statement, make a suitable entry in their registers.

EFFECT OF ASSURANCES ON DISSOLUTION OF LOK SABHA: On dissolution of the Lok Sabha, all assurances, promises or undertakings pending implementation are scrutinised by the new Committee on Government assurances for selection of such of them as are of considerable public importance. The Committee then submits a report to the Lok Sabha with a specific recommendation regarding the assurances to be dropped or retained for implementation by the Government.

FAQ’s

Lok Sabha

Rajya Sabha