COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS 
(Lok Sabha)

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Present Chairman of Public Accounts Committee
 
 

 

I.          Introduction

 In a parliamentary democracy like ours, the Committee system assumes great importance.  Administrative accountability to the legislature becomes the sine qua non of such a parliamentary system.  The check that Parliament exercises over the executive stems from the basic principle that Parliamenet embodies the will of the people and it must, therefore, be able to supervise the manner in which public policy laid down by Parliament is carried out.  However, the phenomenal proliferation of governmental activities has made the task of legislatures very complex and diversified.  By its very nature, Parliament, as a body cannot have an effective control over the government and the whole gamut of its activities.  Administrative accountability to the legislature through Committees has been the hallmark of our political system.  The Committee on Public Accounts enjoys the place of pride in our Committee System.

 

II.         Genesis of the Committee

The Committee on Public Accounts was first set up in 1921 in the wake of the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms. 
The Finance Member of the Executive Council used to be the Chairman of the Committee.  The Secretariat assistance to the Committee was rendered by the then Finance Department (now the Ministry of Finance).  This position continued right up to 1949. During the days of the Interim Government, the then Finance Minister acted as the Chairman of the Committee, and later on, after the attainment of Independence in August, 1947, the Finance Minister became the Chairman.  This naturally restricted the free expression of views and criticism of the Executive. The Committee on Public Accounts underwent a radical change with the coming into force of the Constitution of India on 26 January, 1950, when the Committee became a Parliamentary Committee functioning under the control of the Speaker with a non-official Chairman appointed by the Speaker from among the Members of Lok Sabha elected to the Committee.  The Minister of Finance ceased to be a Member of the Committee vide Rule 309(i) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.
 

III.        Constitution of the Committee

The Public Accounts Committee is now constituted every year under Rule 308 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. The Public Accounts Committee consists of not more than 22 members comprising of 15 members elected by Lok Sabha every year from amongst its members according to the principle of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote and not more than 7 members of Rajya Sabha elected by that House in like manner.  Prior to the year 1954-55, the Committee consisted of 15 members who were elected by Lok Sabha from amongst its Members.  But with effect from the year 1954-55, 7 members from the Rajya Sabha are also being associated with the Committee.  Till 1966-67, a senior member of the ruling party used to be appointed by the Speaker as Chairman of the Committee.  In 1967, however, for the first time, a member from the Opposition in Lok Sabha, was  appointed as the Chairman of the Committee by the Speaker.  This practice continues till date. The term of office of members of the Committee does not exceed one year at a time.  A Minister is not elected a member of the Committee, and if a member, after his election to the Committee is appointed a Minister, he ceases to be a member of the Committee from the date of such appointment. The Chairman of the Committee is appointed by the Speaker from amongst the members of the Committee from Lok Sabha. 

 

IV.       Scope and Functions

The functions of the Committee, as enshrined in Rule 308(1) of the Rules of Procedure  and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, include examination of accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for the expenditure of the Government of India, the annual finance accounts of the Government and such other  accounts laid before the House as the Committee may think fit.  In scrutinising the Appropriation Accounts of the Government of India  and the Report of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India thereon, the Committee has to satisfy :
(a) that the moneys shown in the accounts as having been disbursed were legally available for, and applicable to, the service or purpose to which they have been applied or charged;
(b) that the expenditure  conforms to the authority  which governs it;
(c) that every re-appropriation has been made in accordance with the provisions made in this behalf under rules framed by competent authority.
It shall also be the duty of the Committee 
(a) to examine the statement of accounts showing the `income and expenditure of state corporations, trading and manufacturing schemes, concerns and projects  together with the balance sheets and statements of profit and loss accounts which the President may have required to be prepared or are  prepared under the provisions of the statutory rules regulating the financing of a particular corporation, trading or manufacturing scheme or concern or project and the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon.
(b) to examine the statement of accounts showing the income and expenditure of autonomous and semi autonomous bodies, the audit of which may be conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India either under the directions of the President or by a statute of Parliament; and
(c) to consider the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General in cases where the President may have required him to conduct an audit of any receipts or to examine the accounts of stores and stocks.
If any money has been spent on any service during a financial year in excess of the amount granted by the House for that purpose the Committee shall examine with reference to the facts of each case the circumstances leading to such an excess and make such recommendation as it may deem fit.  
An important function of the Committee is to ascertain that money granted by Parliament has been spent by Government   within the scope of the demand.  

The implications of this phrase are that 

(i) money recorded as spent against the grant must not be more than the amount granted, (ii)  the expenditure brought to account against a particular grant must be of such a nature as to warrant its record against the grant and against no other, and (
iii) the grants should be spent on purposes which are set out in the detailed demand and they cannot be spent on any new service not contemplated  in the demand. The functions of the Committee extent beyond the formality of expenditure to its wisdom, faithfulness and economy.   

The Committee thus examines cases involving losses, nugatory  expenditure and financial irregularities.   

When any case of proved negligence resulting in loss or extravagance is brought to the notice of the Committee, it calls upon the Ministry/Department concerned to explain what action, disciplinary or otherwise, it had taken to prevent a recurrence.  In such a case it can also record its opinion in the form of disapproval or pass strictures against the extravagance or lack of proper control by the Ministry or Department concerned.  

 Another important function of the Committee is the discussion on points of financial discipline and principle.  The detailed examination of questions involving principle and system is a leading and recognized function of the Committee.  The Committee is not concerned with questions of policy in the broad sense.   

As a rule, it expresses no opinion on points of general policy, but it is within its jurisdiction to point out whether there has been extravagance or waste in carrying out that policy.
     

Regularisation of Excesses over Grants

If any money has been spent by the Government on a service in excess of the amount granted by the House for the purpose, the Committee examines with reference to the facts of each case, the circumstances leading to such an excess and makes such recommendations as it may deem fit.  Such excesses are thereafter required to be  brought up before the House by Government for regularization in the manner envisaged in Article 115 of the Constitution.  To facilitate speedy regularization of such excess expenditure by Parliament, the Committee presents a consolidated report relating to all Ministries/Departments in advance of other reports.
 

Savings

The Committee looks upon savings arising from incorrect estimating or other defects or other defects of procedure no more leniently than it does upon excesses.  It regards estimating on the safe side to be as faulty as estimating on the low side.  In the words of the Committee from  one point of view, safeestimating might be regarded as even more objectionable, as it might easily lead to extravagance, waste or worse.

 


 

The Committees work depends a great deal upon the results of audit and examination of the Accounts of the Union Government carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General CAG).  The audit by the CAG is comprehensive and manifold. 

To cite an example, it involves among others, 

(a) Accountancy Audit, 
(b) Regularity Audit, 
(c) Appropriation Audit, 
(d) Propriety Audit or what is also known as Discretionary Audit and 
(e) Efficiency-cum-performance Audit.  

 In recent years, the technique of efficiency-cum-performance has been attempted in the audit of developmental schemes.  The Audit examines as how far the implementing agency is adequately discharging its financial responsibilities in regard to the various schemes undertaken by it and ascertains whether the schemes are being executed effectively and their operations conducted economically and whether they are producing the results expected of them.

In fact, the Institution of Audit plays a crucial role in the functioning of the Committee on Public Accounts and the Comptroller and Auditor General is often termed as friend, philosopher and guide of the Committee.
At the beginning of its term every year, the Committee makes a selection of Audit Paragraphs included in the various reports of C&AG for in-depth examination. After holding deliberations and taking note of the time available at its disposal, the Committee selects the most important paragraphs from the Audit Reports for detailed examination and submits its reports to the House on them.
 
A report has value provided it is properly followed up.   In the case of original report, the Government is required to intimate to the Committee the action taken or proposed to be taken by it on the recommendations contained in the Report normally within six months of the presentation.  The Action   Taken replies of the Government are considered by the Committee and after due classification of the replies, an Action Taken Report is  presented to the Parliament. The Government is further required to intimate to the Committee the action taken or proposed to be  taken by it on the recommendations contained in Chapter I of the Action Taken  Report and also to furnish final replies in respect of the earlier   recommendations contained in the Original  Report in respect of which either no replies had   previously been received or only interim replies had been received.   The action taken thus reported by the Government is laid on the Table of the House in the form of a Statement without any further comments by the Committee.  This system not only ensures accountability of the Executive to Parliament but also enables Parliament and also the general public to appraise Governments final replies to the Committee recommendations.  This completes the examination of a subject by the Committee. 
 
Follow-up on Action taken by Government on Audit paragraphs not selected by the Committee    
Till 1981, there was no practice of ascertaining the action taken by the Ministries/Departments on the Audit paragraphs not selected by the Committee for detailed examination. However, with a view to ensuring enforcement of accountability of the executive in respect of all the issues dealt with in various Audit Reports, the Committee on Public Accounts decided in 1982 that the Audit Reports for the year 1980-81 be referred to the Ministries/Departments concerned for furnishing notes, duly vetted by Audit, showing remedial/corrective Action Taken on all the paragraphs contained therein.  The system has further been streamlined to review the remedial/corrective action taken notes furnished by Government on the non-selected Audit Paragraphs.
At their sitting held on 8.8.2000, the Committee decided that the remedial/correction Action 

Taken Notes received from Government are sent to Office of C&AG for categorization like (a) Accepted (b) Partially accepted and (c) not accepted and then circulated these to the Members of the Committee.  Based on the categorization, the Committee may select Audit Paragraphs for detailed examination.
 

VI.       List of Chairmen since its inception

 LIST OF CHAIRMEN  OF  THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS  COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT  SINCE INCEPTION (1921 to 2006-07)
                                                           
Sl.No.
           Name
Year
Party
 
1.
Mr. W. M.  Hailey
1921
-
2.
Sir Basil P Blackett
1922
-
3.
Sir Basil P Blackett
1923
-
4.
Sir Basil P Blackett
1924
-
5.
Sir Basil P Blackett
1925
-
6.
Sir Basil P Blackett
1926
-
7.
Sir Basil P Blackett
1927
-
8.
Sir Bhupendra Nath Mitra
1928
-
9.
Sir George Schuster
1929
-
10.
Sir George Schuster
1930
-
11.
Sir George Schuster
1931
-
12.
Sir Alan Parsons
1932
-
13.
Mr. A. H. Lloyd
1933
-
14.
Sir James Grigg
1934
-
15.
Sir James Grigg
1935
-
16.
Sir James Grigg
1936
-
17.
Mr. J. C. Nixon
1937
-
18.
Sir James Grigg
1938
-
19.
Sir Jeremy Raisman
1939
-
20.
Sir Jeremy Raisman
1940
-
21.
Sir Jeremy Raisman
1941
-
22.
Mr. C. E. Jones
1942
-
23.
Sir Jeremy Raisman
1943
-
24.
Sir Cyril Jones
1944
-
25.
Sir Archibald Rowlands
1945
-
26.
Sir Eric Coates
Dr. John Matthai
Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan
1946
-
27.
Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan
Shri R. K. Shanmukham Chetty
1947
-
28.
Shri R. K. Shanmukham Chetty
Dr. John Matthai
1948
-
29.
Dr. John Matthai
1949
-
30.
Shri B. Das
1950-51
INC
31.
Shri B. Das
1951-52
INC
32.
Shri B. Das
1952-53
INC
33.
Shri B. Das
1953-54
INC
34.
Shri B. Das
1954-55
INC
35.
Shri V. B. Gandhi
1955-56
INC
36.
Shri V. B. Gandhi
1956-57
INC
37.
Shri T. N. Singh
1957-58
INC
38.
Shri T. N. Singh
Prof. N.G. Ranga
1958-59
INC
39.
Dr.  P. Subbarayan
Shri Upendranath Barman
1959-60
INC
INC
40.
Shri Upendranath Barman
1960-61
INC
41.
Shri C. R. Pattabhi Raman
1961-62
INC
42.
Shri Mahavir Tyagi
1962-63
INC
43.
Shri Mahavir Tyagi
Shri R. K. Khadilkar
1963-64
INC
44.
Shri R. R. Morarka
1964-65
INC
45.
Shri R. R. Morarka
1965-66
INC
46.
Shri R. R. Morarka
1966-67
INC
47.
Shri  M. R. Masani
1967-68
Swatantra
48.
Shri M. R. Masani
1968-69
Swatantra
49.
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
1969-70
Jan Sangh
50.
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
1970-71
Jan Sangh
51.
Shri Era Sezhiyan
1971-72
DMK
52.
Shri Era Sezhiyan
1972-73
DMK
53.
Shri Jyotirmoy Basu
1973-74
CPI(M)
54.
Shri Jyotirmoy Basu
1974-75
CPI(M)
55.
Shri H. N. Mukherjee
1975-76
CPI
56.
Shri H. N. Mukherjee
1976-77
CPI
57.
Shri C. M. Stephen
1977-78
Cong(I)
58.
Shri P. V. Narasimha Rao
1978-79
Cong(I)
59.
Shri T. A. Pai
 
Shri R Venkataraman
1979-80
(upto 30.7.79)
1979-80
(w.e.f. 2.8.79)
Cong(I)
 
Cong(I)
60.
Shri Chandrajit Yadav
1980-81
Lok Dal
61.
Shri Satish Agarwal
1981-82
BJP
62.
Shri Satish Agarwal
1982-83
BJP
63.
Shri Sunil Maitra
1983-84
Cong(I)
64.
Shri Sunil Maitra
1984
Cong(I)
65.
Shri E. Ayyapu Reddy
1985-86
TDP
66.
Shri E. Ayyapu Reddy
1986-87
TDP
67.
Shri Amal Datta
1987-88
CPI(M)
68.
Shri Amal Datta
1988-89
CPI(M)
69.
Shri P. Kolandaivelu
1989
(upto 27.11.89)
AIADMK
 
70.
Shri Sontosh Mohan Dev
1990-91
Cong(I)
71.
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
1991-92
BJP
72.
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
1992-93
BJP
73.
Shri Bhagwan Shankar Rawat
1993-94
BJP
74.
Shri Bhagwan Shankar Rawat
1994-95
BJP
75.
Shri Ram Naik
1995-96
BJP
76.
Dr Murli Manohar Joshi
1996-97
BJP
77.
Dr Murli Manohar Joshi
1997-98
BJP
78.
Shri Manoranjan Bhakta
1998-99
INC
79.
Shri Narayan Datt Tiwari
1999-2000
INC
80.
Shri Narayan Datt Tiwari
2000-2001
INC
 
81.
Shri Narayan Datt Tiwari
 
Shri N. Janardhana Reddy
2001-2002
(upto 1.3.2002)
2001-2002
(w.e.f. 15.3. 2002
to 30.4.2002)
INC
 
INC
82.
Sardar Buta Singh
2002-2003
INC
83.
Sardar Buta Singh
2003-2004
(upto 6.2.2004)
INC
84.
Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra
(2004-2005)
BJP
85. Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra   (2005-2006) BJP  
86 Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra (2006-2007) BJP  
87. Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra (2007-2008) BJP  
 
Note:   Till 1966-67 Chairmen, PAC were appointed from members of the ruling Party.

VII.       Reports presented by the Committee since January 1950

Since the Committee became a Parliamentary Committee under the control of the Speaker from January, 1950, it has presented 1337 Reports till 30th April, 2006.  The details of the Reports presented Lok Sabha wise are as follows:
 
Lok Sabha
Tenure
Report Presented
1st Lok Sabha
1952-57
025
2nd Lok Sabha
1957-62
043
3rd Lok Sabha
1962-67
072
4th Lok Sabha
1967-70
125
5th Lok Sabha
1971-77
239
6th Lok Sabha
1977-79
149
7th Lok Sabha
1980-84
231
8th Lok Sabha
1984-89
187
9th Lok Sabha
1989-91
022
10th Lok Sabha
1991-96
119
11th Lok Sabha
1996-97
024
12th Lok Sabha
1998-99
011
13th Lok Sabha
1999-2004
063
14th Lok Sabha
2004- continuing
047 (As on 30.04.2007)

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