In what way does the Indian Parliament exercise control over the administration?

Correct Option (a):

The Indian Parliament exercises significant control over the administration primarily through its various Parliamentary Committees. These committees are crucial for detailed scrutiny of government functioning, policies, and financial matters. They include:

• Standing Committees: Such as the Public Accounts Committee, Estimates Committee, and Department-related Standing Committees, which examine the working of ministries, implementation of policies, financial expenditures, and audit reports on a continuous basis.
• Ad-hoc Committees: Formed for specific tasks, like inquiring into a particular issue or scrutinizing a bill, and are dissolved once their task is completed.

These committees act as watchdogs, ensuring executive accountability and supplementing the debates in the main legislative chambers by providing in-depth analysis and recommendations.

Incorrect Options:

Option (b): Consultative Committees are attached to various ministries, but their role is primarily advisory and informal. They do not possess the formal powers of scrutiny or control over the administration that parliamentary committees do.

Option (c): While administrators are required to send periodic reports, this is a routine administrative function for information dissemination and internal monitoring. The act of sending reports itself is not a direct mechanism of parliamentary control; rather, Parliament exercises control by scrutinizing these reports through its committees and debates.

Option (d): The power to issue writs (such as habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, and quo warranto) is a prerogative of the Judiciary (Supreme Court and High Courts) in India. This power is exercised to enforce fundamental rights and ensure legal compliance by the executive and other authorities. Parliament does not have the authority to issue writs.