Keralam Resolution Adopted at PAC Chairpersons Conference

The two-day Conference of Chairpersons of Public Accounts Committees of the Parliament of India and State and Union Territory Legislatures ended at Thiruvananthapuram, Keralam, on 4 November 2026. Delegates adopted what is being called the Keralam Resolution, and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla delivered the valedictory address. Representatives of twenty-seven states took part. The plenary session was held on the theme of audit, accountability and good governance, and the changing role of the Public Accounts Committee.

What the resolution commits to

The chairpersons resolved to test rigorously whether public money spent was legally available for the exact purpose it was charged to. They agreed to build a digital portal through which the PACs of Parliament and of the states can learn from one another and share procedural innovations. An action plan is to be drawn up to fix standard timelines for filing Action Taken Notes on audit paragraphs and on PAC recommendations in every state and union territory. Each state and union territory PAC is to get a digital oversight tool on the lines of the Audit Para Monitoring System. Committee secretariats are to be strengthened through regular training by specialised institutes, and members equipped with analytical tools for complex financial questions. The resolution asks PACs to consider meeting at least three times a month and to set up sub-committees to clear pending audit observations. It also seeks closer work with the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General so that advanced forensic tools can flag high-risk areas of governance.

What the Speaker proposed

Om Birla called for a common digital Audit Monitoring Platform for state legislatures, built on the lines of the platform that already serves parliamentary committees, so that audit observations are tracked and audit reports disposed of on time. He cautioned that technology must stay anchored in human judgment and that the credibility of digital governance rests on the accuracy of the data behind it. Taking up a suggestion from K. C. Venugopal, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the Lok Sabha, he urged Parliament and the state legislatures to evolve a joint system of audit and evaluation. He added that while the CAG audits independently, it is the PACs that examine those findings and press for corrective action, and that oversight must look beyond expenditure to whether schemes actually deliver. The Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the Deputy Speaker and the state's PAC chairperson were present.