PAC urges Guj government to act quickly on CAG reports

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Gujarat Assembly rapped the Gujarat government for not taking timely action in submitting Action Taken Reports (ATRs) about observations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
In its report submitted in the Assembly recently for the year 2014-15, the PAC made a serious note about the delay in submitting ATRs from various government departments, about whom, the CAG has made serious observations.
"As per norms, the state government is required to submit ATRs within 90 days after the CAG audit report is tabled in the house. However, it is found that such reports are not made available to the committee in time by the concerned departments. As a result, the PAC can not conduct scrutiny in time," the PAC report said.

The PAC, which comprises 13 members from both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress party, is chaired by senior Congress MLA Shaktisinh Gohil. The committee under him has scrutinised accounts as well as CAG audit reports from 2003-04 to 2006-07.
In it's report, the PAC stated that due to unavailability of ATRs from the concerned departments, it is difficult for the committee to scrutinise performance of these department in time.
"Many departments even submit their reports after a gap of five to six years, that too after several reminders. While some submit their reports just few days ahead of the meeting with that department is scheduled. Thus, members don't get enough time to study it. As a result, scrutiny of that department gets delayed," the PAC report said.