Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Expressing his dismay on the current structure of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), National Assembly Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah recommended changes to the PAC to make it more effective and vibrant. “The present PAC is just eyewash. We need to make drastic changes to its structure and relevant laws,” Shah said while presenting the reports of the committee for 1998-99, 2003-04, 2007-08, and the PAC report on monitoring and implementation for 1996-97.

He said, “If we desire that this committee functions effectively, we shall have to change laws and make it independent. Otherwise, it will remain an eye wash,” as he mentioned the PAC’s recovery of Rs 119 billion.

Shah, who is also the Chairman of the PAC, said that this recovery was of no use when the legal structure was so poor that 18 to 19 years old audit para was in use even today. In such cases, he said, “Out of the officials who had committed follies or corruption, around 60 percent of them have died, 30 percent have retired and the remaining ten percent are at the verge of retirement.”