Thematic committees finally got down to business as they held their maiden meetings on Monday.

Ten committees under the House of Representatives (HoR) set up subordinate panels to formulate their working procedure. They will formally start work once the procedures are approved. The HoR set up 10 thematic committees and the National Assembly (NA) formed four on Thursday after the opposition Nepali Congress named its members for the respective panels.

Formation of the committees, also called mini parliaments, was delayed as the NC had not provided the lists of its representatives as the ruling parties were refusing to give it the leadership of more than one committee. The opposition had been demanding top positions in four panels. Among the 16 committees—10 in the HoR, four in the NA and two common—the ruling parties had offered the NC leadership of only Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Chairperson of a parliamentary committee enjoys perks on par with a state minister.

Two common committees, including the Parliamentary Hearing Committee, represent members from both the Houses. The PHC was formed on July 10. The Lower House has Finance, International Relations, Industry and Commerce, Law and Justice, Agriculture and Cooperative, Women and Social, State Affairs and Good Governance, Science and Technology, Education and Health, and Public Accounts committees.