Question

The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee is ____________.
(A) elected by Union Cabinet
(B) appointed by Speaker
(C) appointed by President
(D) elected by members of PAC

Answer 1

Hint: The Public Accounts Committee was set up in 1921 under the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919 and it has since been in existence. Currently, it has 22 members, out of which 15 are from Lok Sabha and the other 7 members are from Rajya Sabha.

Complete step-by-step solution:
According to the principle of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote, every year the members of this Committee are elected by the Parliament from amongst its members. Thus, due representation is given to all parties through such an election. The office members are elected for a term of one year. A cannot be a member of this committee. The Chairman of the committee, on the other hand, is appointed from amongst its members by the Speaker. The Chairman of the committee until 1966-67 belonged to the ruling party. However, a convention has developed since 1967 whereby the Chairman of the committee is elected from the opposition.
The main function committee is to examine the annual audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), which are laid before the Parliament by the President. Three audit reports are sent by the CAG to the President which include an audit report on public undertakings, an audit report on appropriation accounts, and an audit report on financial accounts.

Thus, option (B) is correct.

Note: The committee examines public expenditure from the point of view of the economy, propriety, wisdom, and prudence to bring about cases of nugatory expenses, waste, extravagance, loss, corruption, and inefficiency, besides it also examines public expenditure from the formal and legal point of view to discover technical irregularities.