Parliamentary committees serve as vital tools for legislative oversight, ensuring accountability and transparency in governance processes. In light of the statement, examine the role of the Public Accounts Committee in establishing financial accountability of the executive.

Parliamentary committees refer to committees of members of parliament that are either elected by the house or appointed by speaker, and submits reports to the house after outcutting. VITAL TOOLS: (1) Help increase debate & discussion on bills and suggest changes - eg Prevention of Corruption Amendment Bill 1990 amended after committee input. (2) Expert analysis + ministerial views in departmentally-related standing committees - (3) Help identify loopholes in can a proposed Bill - eg JPC on data protection bill under Shashi Tharoor - led to new bill altogether.

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE: Role - audits the public accounts of government and PSUs - takes support from CAG who acts as friend, philosopher, guide - reveals financial impropriety of govt expenditure - recommendations for improvements - post-mortem in nature, acts after the expenditure is done - non-binding recommendations, govt can choose to ignore - does not account for off-budget borrowing of the govt from PSUs - lack of technical expertise as all members are MPs. Hence, while public accounts committee plays a vital functor, its powers need to be enhanced with more technical expertise and binding recommendations.