ISLAMABAD: Pildat President Ahmed Bilal Mehboob on Friday recommended that National Assembly and Senate committees should be formed on time, keeping members’ expertise in mind, and their meetings must be scheduled more regularly. Besides NA committees should be given an effective role in the budget process. He was speaking at a briefing session for parliamentarians, aimed at enhancing their engagement with parliament’s committee system for oversight of the government, says a statement. The discussion, titled: ‘How Can Parliamentary Committees Ensure Good Governance?’ provided a platform for deliberations on improving the effectiveness of committees in ensuring transparency and accountability. The session began with Pildat PresidentAhmed Bilal Mehboob delivering a presentation on the subject. He provided an overview of the committee process, detailing the different types of standing committees in the National Assembly and the Senate. He analysed the performance of the 15th National Assembly, where there was a six-month delay in the formation of Standing Committees despite the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the National Assembly 2007, requiring Standing Committees to be constituted within 30 days of the ascertainment of the Leader of the House. On average, only 28 meetings were held in the five years by each committee. This translates into approximately 6 meetings per committee per year. Meanwhile, there was a 11pc decrease in committee activity in the Senate in the 2023-2024 parliamentary year, from 326 meetings in 2022-2023 to 290 meetings in 2023-2024. Members of the National Assembly and senators who attended the sesion included PPPP MNA Sehar Kamran, NP MNA Mr Pullain Baloch, PML-N MNA Mr Kesoo Mal Kheeal Das, PML-N senator Bushra Anjum Butt, PTI senator Zeeshan Khanzada, PTI Senator Dr Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, PML-N MNA Shaista Khan, MNA Mohammad Khan Daha, PPPP MNA Dr Shazia Sobia Somooro and former senator Seemee Ezdi.