AGRTALA, April 7 (TIWN): MLA Jiten Sarkar is now appointed as the new chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The sources said that he has replaced former chairman MLA Gopal Chandra Roy.

The Public Accounts Committee examines the accounts of the Government. The Government expenditures are thoroughly examined and ensured that the Parliamentary limits are not breached. The Government and ministers stay alert while making expenditures because they know that the financial breaches, if any, will be revealed during the examination by P.A.C.

Because of the overwhelming importance of the Public Accounts Committee (P.A.C.) both the government and the opposition try to gain control over the P.A.C. The government has an inbuilt advantage in that; inevitably the majority of members of the P.A.C. belong to the ruling party. But the opposition also has an advantage. It has now become a convention that the chairman of the P.A.C. is a member of the opposition. But since the chairman is nominated by the Speaker, whether an effective and assertive member of the opposition will be the chairman depends on the strict neutrality of the Speaker.

The function of this committee is firstly to examine the report of Accounts of the union government submitted by the Auditor and Comptroller General of India, to the President. Article 151 of the Indian constitution requires the President to lay this report before each House of the Parliament.