Trivandrum: Lok Sabha Speaker, Shri Om Birla, has called upon the Public Accounts Committees (PACs) of Parliament and State Legislatures to strengthen their role as guardians of public money, emphasising that every rupee drawn from the public exchequer must be properly accounted for and utilised fully for the purpose for which it was sanctioned.
He said that transparency and accountability are the cornerstones of democracy and that the ultimate measure of public expenditure must be the positive difference it makes to the lives of ordinary citizens.
Inaugurating the Conference of Chairpersons of Public Accounts Committees of Parliament and State Legislatures in Thiruvananthapuram, the Speaker said that the PAC is a vital institution of parliamentary democracy, entrusted with the responsibility of examining public expenditure, ensuring financial discipline and holding the Executive accountable. He observed that the responsibility of the Committees extends beyond scrutiny of accounts and audit findings; they must also assess whether public funds have achieved their intended objectives and delivered the outcomes for which they were allocated.
Expressing concern over audit observations remaining unresolved for 10, 15 or even 20 years, he said that such prolonged pendency raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the system. He called for a concrete, systematic and time-bound action plan to ensure that audit observations and the action arising from them are addressed without undue delay. The Union and State Governments, he said, must work together to strengthen the mechanisms of monitoring, review and follow-up so that accountability is not merely established on paper but translated into timely corrective action.
Highlighting the distinctive democratic convention of appointing a Member of the Opposition as the Chairperson of the PAC, Shri Birla said that this practice reflects the maturity, inclusiveness and strength of India’s parliamentary democracy. The representation of all political parties in the Committee ensures that different perspectives are brought to the examination of public expenditure.
Chief Minister of Keralam, Shri V D Satheesan; Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri Harivansh; Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, Lok Sabha, Shri K C Venugopal; Speaker, Keralam Legislative Assembly, Shri Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, and Chairperson, PAC of Keralam Legislative Assembly, Shri K N Balagopal, and Chairpersons and Members of Public Accounts Committees of State Legislatures, were among those present.