Role played by Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC)

♤ PAC maintains parliamentary oversight over finances of the government. Its main mandate is to examine the audit reports submitted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

♤ PAC brings to the notice instances of unauthorized expenditures or expenditures beyond sanctioned limits. Functions extend “beyond the formality of expenditure to its wisdom, faithfulness and economy”.

♤ It also examines cases related to under-assessments, tax-evasion, non-levy of duties, misclassifications etc., identifies the loopholes in the taxation laws and makes recommendations in order to check leakage of revenue.

However, currently the Committee faces challenges such as lack of adequate strength, lack of technical expertise, no investigative powers and it cannot act suo- motu until the CAG audit reports are presented to it,

Following measures will strengthen it further and aid it in effectively checking the wrongdoings on the part of Executive-

♤ Stipulate a time limit within which CAG audit reports should be presented to the Parliament.

♤ Time limit should be fixed for government departments to submit Action Taken Report.

♤ PAC should have suo-motu powers of investigations.

♤ Sufficient technical assistance should be provided to them through Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha Secretariats.

♤ Testimony of witnesses should be made public either by telecasting it or allowing the Press or by making the transcript of testimony public.

♤ Minutes of meeting of the PAC should be made public.