Lahore: The Punjab government on Thursday established a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to audit the finances of the local bodies, a news source reported.
The new committee was created after the lawmakers of the incumbent government made amendments to the Punjab Assembly’s Rules of Procedures.
Earlier, the matter of creating a new PAC remained in a stayed condition since 2003. The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) had made a formal request to the provincial government to expedite the creation of this body.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan recently approved a draft of the local government (LG) law that aims to empower elected representatives at the grassroots level.
The provincial government hopes to promulgate the Local Government Act, as well as the Panchayat and Neighbourhood Councils Act, in May. In the wake of the new law, the current local government setup will cease to exist.
The proposed law would introduce a two-tier administrative system: a Panchayat at the rural level, and a Neighbourhoods Council at the lowest level of the local governments in urban areas.
