PAC chief readies course for audit in 5 covid-hit sectors

New Delhi: Public Accounts Committee chairman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has brought to the Speaker’s attention the urgent need to facilitate the panel’s meeting for auditing impact of losses and damage control measures initiated in five crucial sectors worst hit by the Covid-19 induced lockdown.

In a letter to Speaker Om Birla, Chowdhury is learnt to have said that the PAC will have to “suo moto” and “urgently” take up the assessment and auditing of how Covid-19 and lockdown has affected the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and employment loss in the sector, as well the crisis in agriculture, public distribution system and health and social security sectors.

Chowdhury, therefore, urged the Speaker to take an expeditious and positive decision on allowing meetings of parliamentary committees including PAC via videoconference given the importance of assessing the economic and social costs these sectors have suffered due to lockdown.


PAC has powers to call for officials and information from CAG and various ministries on subjects under its examination. Therefore, once PAC gets to take up this exercise, it can lead to queries for information on the PM CARES Fund and how it was being spent on Covid-19 exigency, people familiar with the functioning of PAC said.

Chowdhury is learnt to have informed the Speaker that as PAC chairman he had initiated the process of circulating the memorandum among members, proposing scrutiny of the Covid-19/lockdown impact of the economically and socially crucial sector besides inviting suggestions from PAC colleagues.

He is also the leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha. The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and Birla have initiated a process of examining feasibility of the demands for framing rules to conduct virtual meetings of the standing committees as demanded by some panel chiefs.

Standing committee on labour chief Bhartruhari Mahtab, who had written to the Speaker seeking fresh guidelines to allow virtual meeting of the House panels, meanwhile, thanked the Speaker for initiating examination of its feasibility.