The Public Undertakings Committee (PUC) of the Tamil Nadu Assembly has decided to follow up on the audit reports of four State Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) for the current year. After obtaining replies from the department officials concerned, their action taken report and recommendations would be tabled in the House.
Sources said the committee members would study the audit reports of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD), the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation Limited (TNMSC), the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes Economic Development Corporation Limited (TABCEDCO) and the Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited (TAMIN). Last week, a meeting of the PUC in Chennai, chaired by veteran AIADMK MLA and former Minister S. Semmalai, decided that the committee would tour various parts of the State in connection with the audit reports. “Our primary concern is the TWAD, since the supply of drinking water has been a concern in several constituencies, and it affects people the most. So, we have decided to follow up on the audits of the TWAD,” a member of the 16-member PUC said. The chairmen of the Committee on Public Accounts and the Committee on Estimates are also part of the PUC.
The PUC, during its meetings, chooses specific State PSUs every year and follows up on their respective audit reports, which are tabled in the Assembly. “We study the audit reports — both the annual audit reports and the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) — and summon the officials concerned for a meeting and raise those issues with them,” another PUC member said.
Once the responses, clarifications and contentions of the authorities concerned, including the bureaucratic heads of the PSUs, are obtained, the PUC collects an action taken report from them. The submissions of the officials, along with the recommendations of the PUC, are then tabled in the Assembly.
