The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

A move is afoot to form a new high-powered advisory committee for the interim period to assist the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) under the next Parliament.

The World Bank has provided technical assistance to the government for forming an ad-hoc committee based on international precedents.

An overwhelming number of outstanding reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General have accumulated due to the absence of Parliamentary Accounting Committee. Such a situation pushes the government to consider an alternative.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), like any other Parliamentary Committees, is not meeting since the Parliament has dissolved. No auditing reports were reviewed since then while approximately 800 audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General awaits review.

A follow up process must be put in place in absence of the PAC to track the work of the Committee and to ensure proper action on the recommendations of the CAG report by the various audit organisations, said a World Bank press release yesterday.

The ad-hoc PAC will not be a replacement for the PAC as it does not have the constitutional authority, parliamentary members, or the ability to uphold sanctions.

Rather, the proposed "High Powered Advisory Committee" can be made up of independent members who would provide advice to the President and to the incoming PAC, when it is constituted, on how to prioritise and clear the backlog of CAG reports.

A World Bank team recently visited Bangladesh and met with various government departments to explore ways on how such a committee is made up of non parliamentarians while the Constitution is still in effect. During the visit, a series of discussion and training sessions took place.

The government and the World Bank discussed on how the country would benefit from interim arrangements which will review audit findings and suggest measures for quick disposal of audit objections.

They discussed ways and the challenges of possible formation, relationship to new PAC when established, and how the Ministry of Finance would support the ad hoc Committee.