Kerala will host the first All-India conference of chairpersons and members of Public Accounts Committees (PACs) in Thiruvananthapuram, bringing together 262 representatives from Parliament, state legislatures and Union territories to discuss audit, accountability and governance.
The two-day conference will begin at 11.30am on Tuesday at the R Sankaranarayanan Thampi Members’ Lounge in the Kerala legislative assembly complex. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will inaugurate the event, state assembly Speaker Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan said at a news conference.
Chief minister V D Satheesan, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, Parliament’s PAC chairperson K C Venugopal and state PAC chairperson K N Balagopal are scheduled to address the inaugural session. The plenary discussions will be held in the assembly hall over the two days.
The conference is themed “Audit, Accountability and Good Governance: The Evolving Role of PAC”. Its discussions will focus on public financial accountability, audit mechanisms, transparency and the role of legislative committees in examining government expenditure.
PACs examine audit reports submitted by the Comptroller and Auditor General to the governor. Their work includes scrutinising government spending and assessing whether public funds have been used in accordance with approved allocations and established procedures. The committees operate as part of the legislative oversight system, examining expenditure after it has been incurred and reviewing issues identified through the audit process.
Kerala’s legislative history gives the state a particular connection to the PAC system. The first PAC in the country was constituted in the erstwhile Travancore legislative assembly in 1933, according to the state assembly Speaker. Kerala’s legislative assembly also introduced the convention of appointing an opposition member as PAC chairperson in 1957. The practice was later followed in other legislatures.
The Kerala PAC has submitted 1,257 reports over the past 70 years. The reports reflect the committee’s role in reviewing government expenditure and raising questions about the use of public funds through the legislative process.
For urban administrations and public infrastructure systems, the PAC mechanism is relevant because government spending on services and projects is subject to approved allocations, procedural rules and audit scrutiny. The conference will allow PAC members from different legislatures to exchange experiences and discuss ways to strengthen the systems through which public expenditure is examined.
The inaugural session will be followed by plenary sessions at the assembly hall. The valedictory session is scheduled for 11.45am on Wednesday, when the two-day conference is expected to conclude.
