The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a body created by the legislature to ensure transparency and accountability in the utilization of public funds. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) scrutinizes the annual accounts of all Government departments and gives his comments/strictures when there are irregularities such as non-submission of utilization certificates by respective departments, there is over-spending by any department or when the spending does not match the claims of physical achievements of a project. The PAC studies the CAG reports and is authorised to summon ministers, parliamentary secretaries and officials to the Committee for questioning, and clarification on the irregularities pointed out by the CAG. The findings of the PAC, their remarks and recommendations to the respective departments are supposed to be placed in the Assembly for further discussion and the government is required to report back to the legislature on PAC recommendations within a definite time line. Based on their findings, PACs often make recommendations to government department asking them to change certain policies and processes and improve their mode of implementation such as construction and other public works.
Recently the PAC headed by Paul Lyngdoh, MLA has been doing commendable work in tracking tardy implementation of projects and poor utilization of public money. The Kiang Nangbah College hostel for boys is only 60 % complete owing to non-release of funds. The girls’ hostel is non-functional. The attrition rate of teachers is very high and teachers have either not been paid or poorly paid. All these are indicators of a very poorly functioning Education Department. This has a deleterious effect on students who attend college with dreams of going places someday. Who is to be blamed for the poor educational outcomes in the state if not the Education Department?
Though the PAC often is referred to as a post-mortem committee, it has a significant role as the very fact that there is someone who will scrutinise what has been done is a great check on the slackness, or negligence of the government apart from checking fiscal misconduct. Earlier the PAC in Meghalaya functioned like a toothless tiger. It neither carried out physical inspection of schemes and projects or even if it did, it compromised by not pursuing certain wrongdoings. The example of non-functioning chakki mills in Meghalaya which were later certified to be functional by the PAC is just one example. Others abound. We can only hope that the PAC continues to carry out its duties diligently in public interest.