Public Accounts Committee was introduced in 1921 after its first mention in Government of India Act, 1919 also called Montford Reforms. It is existing in Indian Constitution since then. It is one of the parliamentary committees that examine the annual audit reports of CAG which President lays before the Parliament of India. Those three reports submitted by CAG are:
- Audit report on appropriation accounts
- Audit report on finance accounts
- Audit report on public undertakings
The Public Accounts Committee examines public expenditure. That public expenditure is not only examined from a legal and formal point of view to discover technical irregularities but also from the point of view of the economy, prudence, wisdom and propriety. The sole purpose to do this is to bring out the cases of waste, loss, corruption, extravagance, inefficiency and nugatory expenses.
Estimate Committee: It is a type of financial committee in the constitution of India. It is a one of the parliamentary committees (permanent standing committee.0 The purpose of this committee is to examine the estimates included in the budget presented in the parliament. It also suggests economies in public expenditure. For the same, it is also called ‘Continuous Economy Committee. It has 30 members. Term of the office is just one year. All the members are taken from Lok Sabha (Lower House). That means that there is no representation from Rajya Sabha (Upper House.) All the members are taken from Lok Sabha (Lower House). That means that there is no representation from Rajya Sabha (Upper House.)