Key parliamentary panels constituted, Congress's K C Venugopal to head PAC

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also constituted four other parliamentary panels, including Estimates and Public Undertakings committees which will be chaired by BJP leaders

The Lok Sabha speaker on Saturday named the constituents of the new parliamentary panels including the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which examines government expenditure.

Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal will head the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which keeps a close eye on government expenditure, according to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, reported PTI.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also constituted four other parliamentary panels, including Estimates and Public Undertakings committees which will be chaired by BJP leaders.

Public Accounts, Public Undertakings and Estimates committees are the key financial committees of Parliament tasked with keeping a watch on the government's accounts and the functioning of public sector firms, reported PTI.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a bulletin on Friday announcing the constitution of parliamentary panels.

Ganesh Singh, BJP MP from Satna, Madhya Pradesh has been appointed as the chairperson of the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes. The Committee was first established in 2012 and its functions include, considering reports from the National Commission for Backward Classes and reviewing welfare measures for OBCs.

BJP Lok Sabha MP from Mandla constituency Dr Faggan Singh Kulaste has been appointed as the chairperson of the committee on the Welfare of scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, reported PTI.

BJP leader Sanjay Jaiswal will head the Committee on Estimates while his party colleague Baijayant Panda will chair the Committee on Public Undertakings.

The committees have a tenure of one year and have members from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. They are elected by the two Houses, reported PTI.

The PAC is usually headed by a senior Lok Sabha member of the principal opposition party. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury headed the PAC for five years.

Unlike the previous Lok Sabha, committees in the 18th Lok Sabha have taken shape mostly through consensus instead of elections, reported PTI.

Besides the PAC, Committee on Public Undertakings, Committee on Estimates, Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Joint Committee on Office of Profit and Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes have been constituted without an election this time.

The Lok Sabha speaker is yet to constitute the department-related standing committees which keep an eye on the functioning of various Union ministries and departments.

(With inputs from PTI)

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