Accountability central to governance in a parliamentary democracy: Kovind

He said parliamentary committees ensure administrative accountability of the Executive towards the Legislature

Parliament is the embodiment of the people's will, and accountability is central to governance in a parliamentary democracy, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Saturday, inaugurating the centenary celebrations of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

He said the parliamentary committees in general and the PAC in particular ensure administrative accountability of the Executive towards the Legislature.

Emphasising that various parliamentary panels work as its extension and enhance its functioning, he said the committee system is a welcome division of labour as they allow the Houses to discuss and debate all issues while select groups of MPs can devote more focus on select matters.

"Without Parliamentary Committees, a parliamentary democracy would be rendered incomplete. It is through the PAC that citizens keep a check on the government finances. In a parliamentary democracy, accountability is central to governance. Therefore, it is obvious that a committee of people’s representatives doing scrutiny of public accounts plays an important role," he said.

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"The PAC examines public expenditure not only from a legal and formal point of view to find out technical irregularities, if any, but also from the point of view of the economy, prudence, wisdom, and propriety. It has no other objective but to bring to notice cases of waste, loss, corruption, extravagance, inefficiency. If more paise out of every rupee coming from honest taxpayers are reaching those in need and also for nation-building initiatives, the PAC and its members have played a large role in the process," he said.

On the role of the PAC, he said it aids in finding better ways to raise the resources and, more importantly, to spend them efficiently on people’s welfare. Since it is the Parliament that grants permission to the Executive to raise and spend funds, he added, it has the duty to assess if funds were raised and spent accordingly or not.

Kovind also recalled the contributions of former President R Venkataraman and former Prime Ministers A B Vajpayee, P V Narasimha Rao and I K Gujral as members of the PAC.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said institutions like PAC are today seen as effective platforms to solve the problems of the people and fulfill their expectations. Despite several problems in the past seven decades, he said, the biggest achievement has been that the country has emerged as the largest and most effective democracy in the world.

"The main responsibility of democratic institutions is to make the government accountable and transparent to the people. Parliamentary committees have contributed significantly in making this possible through their functions," he said.

He said the constructive suggestions of the PAC have not only promoted the optimal use of financial resources but have also helped in improving the policies and programs of the government.

"Non-partisan functioning of parliamentary committees and the tradition of generally accepting the recommendations of the committee by the government show the maturity of our parliamentary system," he added.

PAC Chairperson Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that over the decades, the examination of accounts by the PAC accomplishes the aim of enforcing public accountability in the transactions of Government business. And in this manner, the committee contributes towards maintaining the standard of efficiency and financial propriety in the running of the administration.

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