Stress on making presence of PAC further effective

Kathmandu, March 18: It has been stressed to make the deliveries of Public Account Committee, House of Representatives further effective and results-oriented.

In a meeting of the Committee today, legislators expressed their concern that the response to arrears specified by the Auditor General’s report, its audit and complaints regarding this had not been effective.

Committee President Rhishikesh Pokhrel said nine subcommittees have been formed to enhance the functioning of the Committee.

As he said, one of the sub committees, was for looking into the arrears issues. Committee’s investigation into 114 complaints lodged in the Committee to date is awaited.

Committee member Janardan Sharma said no discussion has been report on the report of the Office of the Auditor’s General. He called for prioriorising the complaints as per their nature and sorting them out accordingly.

Ramkrishna Yadav acknowledged that the Committee’s activities have failed to yield results, expressing his concern over the lack of the occurrence and the apathy on the part of relevant bodies to implement the Committee’s directions.

Prem Bahadur Ale stressed that the Committee should ensure impartial and effective investigations in the alleged abuse of State’s property.  He stressed that the disputes regarding the dedicated and trunk line traffic be sorted out and the issue about the alleged economic irregularities in Gautam Buddha International Airport and Pohara International Airport be responded.

Manish Jha echoed the need to regularise the Committee meeting and the monitoring of implementation of its directions by the respective bodies.  “The Committee should ensure that whether its instructions have been followed.”  As he said, the Committees directions relating to the price rise of cement and iron roads have remained unimplemented by the relevant Ministry, forcing consumers to suffer more.

Rajendra Kumar Karki also said the instructions against the price rise of cement and iron rods have not been implemented at all. “The response is nil,” he said, underling the need of investigating the alleged irregularities related to Gautam Buddha and Pokhara International Airports.