The newly-constituted Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament headed by KV Thomas of the Congress is expected to consider the examination of 41 subjects including CAG reports on controversial KG Basin and MNREGA. The new panel will skip the 2G issue, which rocked the panel as well as Parliament for three years.
Out of the 41 subjects, 21 are new including improper management of defence land and procurement of allopathic drugs in CGHS. The panel has categorised the subjects in three categories — new issues, subjects on which briefing or evidence have been held but reports are yet to be drafted or submitted, and issues on which draft reports were approved by the then chairman Murli Manohar Joshi and are to be finalised.
The controversial draft report on 2G spectrum allocation scam which Joshi had kept alive during his tenure as “pending agenda” finds no mention in the subjects selected by the new committee. The PAC, reconstituted recently, has kept the issue of KG Basin and ‘performance of MNREGA’ in the category of subjects on which briefing or evidences have been held but reports are yet to be drafted or submitted.
The issue of ultra mega power projects has been kept in the category of reports finalised by then Chairman PAC but yet to be finalised. The subjects were finalised in the recent meeting of the PAC and have been formally communicated to its members.
The CAG had sharply criticised Reliance Industries and the Oil Ministry for violation of contract over the showpiece KG-D6 gas block and called for revamping the current profit-sharing arrangement that reduces Government revenues. The PAC usually takes up either complete reports or some paragraphs of CAG reports on various topics tabled in Parliament for examination.