Public Accounts Committee

07/03/2025

345 2 minutes read

The Public Accounts Committee was established in 1921 after its first mention within the Government of India Act, 1919 also known as Montford Reforms.
The Public Accounts Committee is now constituted each year under Rule 308 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.

PAC consists of 20- members, 15 elected by Lok Sabha, and 7 members of Rajya Sabha.
The members are elected every year from amongst its members of respective houses per the precept of proportional representation by a single transferable vote.
The term of office of the members is 12 months.
The Chairperson of the Committee is appointed by the Speaker from amongst the members of the Committee from Lok Sabha.
The Speaker, for the first time, appointed a Member of the Opposition as the Chairperson of the Committee for 1967-68. This practice has been persevering with for the reason that then.
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.

It is one of the oldest Parliamentary Committees in India.
From its inception in the year 1921 until early 1950, the Finance Member was appointed as the Chairperson of the Committee, and its secretarial functions were taken care of via the Finance Department (later Ministry of Finance).
With the coming into force of the Constitution of India on 26 January 1950, the Committee became a Parliamentary Committee under the control of the Speaker.
Its secretarial functions were transferred to the Parliament Secretariat (now Lok Sabha Secretariat).

To study the accounts displaying the appropriation of the sums granted by the House to meet the expenditure, the once a year Finance Accounts of the authorities and,
Such other accounts laid before the House as the Committee may think match except those regarding such Public Undertakings as are allocated to the Committee on Public Undertakings.
Apart from the Reports of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on Appropriation Accounts of the Government, the Committee examines the diverse Audit Reports of the CAG on revenue receipts, expenditure by diverse Ministries/Departments of Government and money owed by independent bodies.
The Committee appears upon financial savings springing up from incorrect estimating or different defects in method no greater leniently than it does upon excesses.

- - Parliament deliberates on matters which are complicated, and therefore need technical knowledge to apprehend such topics better.

- - Committees also offer a forum for constructing consensus across political parties.

- The government has to report again on whether or not those recommendations have been widely wide-spread or not.
- Based on this, the Committees then desk an Action Taken Report, which shows the popularity of the government’s action on every recommendation.