Give an account of the composition and functions of the Public Account Committee of the Parliament of India.
Answer:
In Parliamentary system of Government, executive is responsible to the legislative. To uphold the financial control over the former, the legislative use the tool of Public Account Committee (PAC).
Composition of PAC:
PAC comprises of members from Lok Sabha (15) and Rajya Sabha (7) which are elected for one year according to the proportional representation by means of single transferrable vote.
Functions of PAC:
It examines the public expenditure not only from legal and formal point of view but also from economy, prudence, wisdom and propriety.
Other functions are to examine:
- Appropriation accounts and finance accounts of the Union government and any other accounts laid before the Lok Sabha. Audit reports of CAG (audit report on appropriation accounts; finance accounts and accounts on public undertakings).
- Accounts of autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies, (audit of which is done by CAG).
However, the lack of technical expertise, recommendatory nature of report, politicization etc. hinders the PAC’s effectiveness.