Discuss the role of Public Accounts Committee in establishing accountability of the government to the people. (UPSC IAS Mains 2017 General Studies Paper – 2)
Public Accounts Committee is considered the most important financial Committee of Parliament in the financial accountability process. It comprises of 22 members of parliament (15 members from Lok Sabha and 7 from Rajya Sabha). It establishes the accountability of the government by:
- Examining the budgetary appropriations and accounts of the government and Reports of Comptroller and Auditor General (under article 151) on the execution of the projects and programmes by the various ministries.
- Examining the demand for excess grants before they are presented to the Parliament for regularisation.
- 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; and
- every reappropriation has been made in accordance with the related rules.
The committee examines public expenditure not only from legal and formal point of view to discover technical irregularities but also from the point of view of economy, prudence, wisdom and propriety to bring out the cases of waste, loss, corruption, extravagance, inefficiency and nugatory expenses.
Demerits: PAC in India is not able to enforce the accountability of the government to the people in true sense because-
- Even if it brings out the irregularities in the public expenditure there are no mechanisms to enforce the corrective measures.
- It examines the expenditure which has already been done by the government.
- Its recommendations are only advisory in nature and are not binding on the ministry of the day.
- PAC has got no mandate to examine the policy in broader sense.
However PAC at times, through its criticism of the inefficient public expenditure of the government, creates a strong public opinion against the government. The incumbent government to remain in power tries to rectify the inefficiency in its public expenditure and policy making. Thus the committee helps in enforcing accountability of the executive to the people.
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