Public Accounts Committee (PAC)

Public Accounts Committee (PAC)

Subject – Polity

Context – The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, headed by veteran Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has decided to examine the Rafale deal.

Concept –

• Public Accounts Committee was introduced in 1921 after its first mention in the Government of India Act, 1919 also called Montford Reforms. It is existing in the Indian Constitution since then.
• PAC is one of the parliamentary committees that examine the annual audit reports of CAG which the President lays before the Parliament of India. Those three reports submitted by CAG are:
  • Audit report on appropriation accounts
  • Audit report on finance accounts
  • Audit report on public undertakings
• The Public Accounts Committee examines public expenditure.
• That public expenditure is not only examined from a legal and formal point of view to discover technical irregularities but also from the point of view of the economy, prudence, wisdom, and propriety.
• The sole purpose to do this is to bring out cases of waste, loss, corruption, extravagance, inefficiency, and nugatory expenses.
• Election of Members -By Parliament every year with proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote (A minister cannot be elected)
• Members – 22. Out of 22 members, 15 are elected from Lok Sabha (Lower House) and 7 members are elected from Rajya Sabha (Upper House.)
• Term of office – one year
• Chairman – Speaker appoints him/her from amongst the members, invariably from the Opposition Party since 1967.
• Its limitation – It can keep a tab on the expenses only after they are incurred. It has no power to limit expenses.