Which one of the following statements about the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament is not correct?

(a)    It examines the Finance Accounts of the Government of India.

(b)    Fifteen members of the Committee are elected by the Lok Sabha from amongst its members.

(c)    The Chairperson of the Committee is elected by its members.

(d)    In case a member of any other Committee constituted by the Government is elected to the PAC, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha decides whether he should continue to be a member of the former Committee

Answer: C

Public Accounts Committee (PAC):

·       PAC is one of the three Financial Parliamentary committees, the other two are the Estimates Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings.

·       The Public Accounts Committee was introduced in 1921 after its first mention in the Government of India Act, 1919 also called Montford Reforms.

·       It presently comprises 22 members (15 members elected by the Lok Sabha Speaker, and 7 members elected by the Rajya Sabha Chairman) with a term of one year only. The Chairman of the Committee is appointed by the Speaker of Lok Sabha.

·       Until 1966-67, the chairman of the committee belonged to the ruling party. However, since 1967 a convention has developed where by the chairman of the committee is selected invariably from the Opposition.

·       The term of office of the members is one year. A minister cannot be elected as a member of the committee.

·       In case a member of any other Committee constituted by the Government is elected to the PAC, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha decides whether he should continue to be a member of the former Committee.

·       The function of the committee is to examine the annual audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), which are laid before the Parliament by the President.

·       The committee examines public expenditure not only from a legal and formal point of view to discover technical irregularities but also from the point of view of the economy, prudence, wisdom and propriety to bring out the cases of waste, loss, corruption, extravagance, inefficiency and nugatory expenses.