Q. With reference to Public Accounts Committee, Consider the following statements:
1. Committee examines the annual audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
2. The committee approves the demands for excess grants before they are voted by Lok Sabha.
3. The role of committee is concerned with the questions of policy in broader sense.
How many statements given above are correct?
Exp) Option b is the correct answer
Public Accounts Committee was set up first in 1921 under the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919 and has since been in existence. At present, it consists of 22 members (15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha).
Statement 1 is correct. 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 CAG submits three audit reports to the President, namely, audit report on appropriation accounts, audit report on finance accounts and audit report on public undertakings.
Statement 2 is correct. Excess grant is granted when money has been spent on any service during a financial year in excess of the amount granted for that service in the budget for that year. It is voted by the Lok Sabha after the financial year. Before the demands for excess grants are submitted to the Lok Sabha for voting, they must be approved by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.
Statement 3 is incorrect. The effectiveness of the role of the committee is limited as it is not concerned with the questions of policy in broader sense. It also conducts a post-mortem examination of accounts (showing the expenditure already incurred).
