PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES

Context

• Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of state legislature has identified several lapses in the tendering process and procurement of COVID-19 material in karnataka.

Background

• Parliament has neither the adequate time nor necessary expertise to make a detailed scrutiny of all legislative measures and other matters.
• Therefore, it is assisted by a number of committees in the discharge of its duties.
• The Constitution of India makes a mention of these committees at di erent places, but without making any specific provisions regarding their composition, tenure, functions, etc.
• All these matters are dealt with by the rules of two Houses.

About Public Accounts Committee

• This committee was set up first in 1921 under the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919 and has since been in existence.
• At present, it consists of 22 members (15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha).
• The members are elected by the Parliament every year from amongst its members according to the principle of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
• Thus, all parties get due representation in it.
• The term of o ce of the members is one year. A minister cannot be elected as a member of the committee.
• The chairman of the committee is appointed from amongst its members by the Speaker.
• Until 1966 - ‘67, the chairman of the committee belonged to the ruling party.
• However, since 1967 a convention has developed whereby the chairman of the committee is selected invariably from the Opposition.
• The function of the committee is to examine the annual audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), which are laid before the Parliament by the President.
• The CAG submits three audit reports to the President, namely, audit report on appropriation accounts, audit report on finance accounts and audit report on public undertakings.

Detailed function of the Public Accounts Committee

• To examine the appropriation accounts and the finance accounts of the Union government and any other accounts laid before the Lok Sabha.
• The appropriation accounts compare the actual expenditure with the expenditure sanctioned by the Parliament through the Appropriation Act, while the finance accounts show the annual receipts and disbursements of the Union Government.
• In scrutinising the appropriation accounts and the audit report of CAG on it, the committee has to satisfy itself that

○ The money that has been disbursed was legally available for the applied service or purpose

○ The expenditure conforms to the authority that governs it

○ Every re-appropriation has been made in accordance with the related rules

• To examine the accounts of state corporations, trading concerns and manufacturing projects and the audit report of CAG on them (except those public undertakings which are allotted to the Committee on Public Undertakings)
• To examine the accounts of autonomous and semi autonomous bodies, the audit of which is conducted by the CAG.
• To consider the report of the CAG relating to the audit of any receipt or to examine the accounts of stores and stocks .
• To examine the money spent on any service during a financial year in excess of the amount granted by the Lok Sabha for that purpose .