Editorial
For an ad hoc PAC
It should be constituted with persons of merit and expertise
With the parliamentary oversight of government accounts through public accounts committee (PAC) missing, an alternative arrangement has to be worked out to scrutinise state sector accounts and evaluate reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)'s office. This becomes a compelling necessity, because the present interim government is not going to be short-lived; it is set to last one-and-a-half years more, going by the road map the government has for the next general election. The oversight functions of the parliament has to be taken over by some mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability of government expenditures. It is therefore in the fitness of things that the Comptroller and Auditor General himself has submitted a proposal to the government for an immediate formation of a public accounts committee on ad hoc basis. In specific terms, objections to the accounts pertaining to government officials' dues as contained in the audit reports need to be disposed of together with the settling of a mounting number of pension cases. Decisions relating to recovery of money due to the exchequer from various individuals and agencies are also taken by the committee. The CAG is for taking on board retired justices, former government officials, businessmen, educationists and public leaders as members of the proposed ad hoc committee. The committee needs to be constituted by neutral persons in order to function as an impartial oversight body. The rationale for an ad hoc committee cannot be in question, but we would like to make a few specific points by way of making sure that the body, when formed, can work to its full potential. Let's not forget, that the public accounts committee, of even an elected parliament, has had backlogs in terms of pursuing the audit reports and could hardly succeed in making the executive branch of the government take actions in line with its recommendations. Its terms of reference will have to be carefully formulated to provide it with adequate power to make its recommendations heard.
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