KG Basin, MNREGA among issues to be examined by Public Accounts Committee

NEW DELHI: Pending reports on KG Basin, UPA's flagship rural employment scheme MNREGA and indigenous construction of warships are among the 41 subjects selected by Parliament's key Public Accounts Committee for examination in the coming days, though it has skipped the 2G issue.

Out of the 41 issues, 21 are new subjects, which include improper management of defence land and procurement of allopathic drugs in CGHS.

The new PAC headed by Congress leader K V Thomas 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 report was returned by then Speaker Meira Kumar to Joshi amid opposition by UPA members.

The PAC, reconstituted recently, has kept the issue of KG Basin - 'Hydrocarbaon Production Sharing Contracts' 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.

In its report on rural job guarantee scheme, the CAG had said only 30 per cent of 129 lakh works worth over Rs 1.26 lakh crore approved in 14 states were completed. It said barely 30 per cent of NREGA work was completed, while Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh used only 20 percent of its funds.

The PAC usually take up either complete reports or some paragraphs of CAG reports on various topics tabled in Parliament for examination.