Discuss the role of the Public Accounts Committee in establishing accountability of the Government to the people.
India being a parliamentary democracy establishes accountability of the government to the people through parliamentary supervision and control. Public Accounts Committee (PAC) aids the parliament in financial scrutiny of the government.
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a financial committee constituted every year to examine the annual audit reports of submitted by the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) and reports its finding to the parliament .PAC is elected by the parliament from amongst its members by proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. Ministers cannot be members of PAC. Since 1967, a healthy convention has been established that the chairman shall not belong to the ruling party. This very composition and mode of election makes the PAC inclusive is character and provides legitimacy to it.
PAC acts as the watchdog of the public purse by
(a) Examining the audit report on appropriation account and finance account.
(b) Scrutinizing the appropriation account to verify.
If the funds were legally available.
- If a competent authority sanctioned it's use.
- If the rules laid by procedure were followed.
The CAG acts as a guide friend and philosopher to the PAC .The PAC not only determines the legal validity and for technical irregularities of the expenses but also brings out cares of waste, loss, corruption, extravagance, and inefficiency. PAC’s function has been sometimes criticised since it does not look into the policy aspect and is only recommending. Yet, PAC has been in establishing financial accountability of the government to the people.