Discuss the role of Public Accounts Committee in establishing accountability of the government to the people.
Approach · directive: “discuss”
What it asks · Explain how the PAC uses CAG audit reports to scrutinise expenditure, what it can and cannot do, and how this makes the executive answerable to Parliament and so to the people.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Discuss how the PAC works: composition, its use of CAG reports and its powers
- Discuss how this establishes the government's accountability to the people, with its limits and how to strengthen it
Open with · The Public Accounts Committee is a parliamentary committee that examines whether money voted by Parliament has been spent as authorised; it is the main forum for following up the CAG's audit reports.
Cover
- Composition: 22 members drawn from both Houses (15 from the Lok Sabha, 7 from the Rajya Sabha); since 1967-68 the chair has by convention gone to an Opposition member, giving it a non-partisan character.
- Work: it examines appropriation accounts and the CAG's audit reports for waste, extravagance, loss and irregular spending, summoning officials to explain.
- Accountability effect: officials and ministries must justify decisions before elected members, and findings are placed before Parliament and the public.
- Follow-up: its recommendations, and the government's Action Taken Reports on them, create a record of responsibility for expenditure.
- Limits: it works after money is spent (post-mortem), recommendations are advisory, and delays and weak follow-up dilute its effect.
- Strengthening: timely tabling of CAG reports, time-bound government replies, stronger monitoring of action taken, and stronger public access to its proceedings.
Close with · The PAC turns audit findings into parliamentary scrutiny, but its influence depends on the government acting on its recommendations.
Add value (verified)
- Article 151 requires the CAG's reports on Union accounts to be laid before each House of Parliament, the material on which the PAC's scrutiny is based. The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2024), Article 151 - Legislative Department ↗“The reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India relating to the accounts of the Union shall be submitted to the President, who shall cause them to be laid before each House of Parliament.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 219 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
The Public Accounts Committee examines whether money voted by Parliament was spent as authorised. Article 151 places the CAG's reports before both Houses, and the PAC is the forum that follows them up.
How the PAC works
- Composition: 22 members (15 Lok Sabha, 7 Rajya Sabha); since 1967-68 the chair has gone by convention to the Opposition, which keeps its scrutiny non-partisan.
- Scrutiny: it studies appropriation accounts and audit reports for loss, waste, extravagance and irregular spending, and summons secretaries to explain.
- Follow-up: its recommendations go to the House, and ministries must file Action Taken Reports on each.
How this makes government accountable
- Officials answer to elected members in the people's name, not only to their own ministers.
- Findings and evidence become public documents that the press, civil society and voters can use.
- Sustained examination deters careless spending and fixes responsibility for decisions.
Limits
- It examines expenditure after the money is gone, so it corrects rather than prevents.
- Recommendations are advisory; late audit reports, delayed replies and weak monitoring dilute them.
Strengthening
- Time-bound tabling of audit reports and government replies, a standing mechanism to track action taken, and open proceedings.
The PAC converts audit findings into parliamentary and public scrutiny; its authority is moral rather than coercive, and it bites only when the government acts on what it finds.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.