New Delhi, December 4 (MExN): There is laxity and indifference on the part of Government departments in taking the recommendations of the PAC seriously, Chairperson of the NLA Public Accounts Committee K Tokugha Sukhalu said on Saturday.
Addressing the Conference of Chairpersons of PAC of Parliament and State/UT Legislatures at Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi on December 4, Sukhalu stated that recommendations of the PAC are given so that government departments can take follow up actions and bring economy and efficiency in the financial administration of the state.
“The recommendations of the Committee ought to be fully implemented within a reasonable timeframe and the governments must take decisions expeditiously and inform the PAC timely,” he said.
However, Sukhalu lamented that the PAC reports are rarely debated on the floor of the House and “it is often seen that many of the PAC reports are not even read by the officers of the government departments.” As such, the PACs ought to remind bureaucrats that it is in the interest of discharging their assigned executive roles effectively that they use the PAC recommendations to improve the quality of governance, he said.
Sukhalu also emphasised the need to ensure that the government takes suitable corrective actions, “otherwise the audit exercise may be reduced to a ritual.” Stating his observation that government departments do not take due care to submit implementation reports on time, he also noted that the ‘unacceptable delay’ hinders timely examination of other Audit Reports.
In this context, Sukhalu underscored the need to evolve efficient mechanisms for ensuring strict compliance with the Committee’s directives.
Taking the case of Nagaland where a general laxity in compliance was observed, Sukhalu said that the PAC devised a mechanism and reduced the time frame for submission of implementation report to two months after tabling the reports before the Committee. This, he said, would compel the government departments to initiate prompt action on the implementation reports, and subsequently, the implementation reports would be submitted on time.
The Departmental Audit Committees which are constituted to expedite settlement of outstanding audit observations should also review the status of implementation and ensure that the PAC’s observations are not taken lightly, he added.
Additionally, he suggested that the Chief Secretary of the government review the compliance of PAC recommendations at forums like the monthly meetings of Administrative Heads of Departments and Heads of Departments.
Emphasising that positive and adequate response from the executive authorities are crucial in order to get desired results from PAC reports, Sukhalu further underscored the need for thorough overhaul of prevalent systems of monitoring progress in the government departments, so that the objective of financial accountability is upheld.
