Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal proposes reforms for parliamentary oversight

Specific targets for audit reports

The minister urged Parliament, the Auditor General of Pakistan and the Finance Division to establish a specific goal. This target involves presenting audited reports to the Public Accounts Committee within 12 months of each financial year end. He additionally proposed that conducting timely reviews of significant construction initiatives become standard procedure instead of a rarity. Every Public Accounts Committee directive must carry a clearly defined deadline for compliance according to his proposal.

Digital tracking and research wings

Ahsan Iqbal suggested creating a digital system to track compliance that connects the PAC Secretariat and the Auditor General's office. A dashboard would show the status of departmental compliance with committee directives to everyone involved. He proposed establishing lasting professional research divisions inside the PAC that would include analysts, accountants, and data specialists. Principal Accounting Officers ignoring directives repeatedly should face consequences in their performance evaluations and Annual Confidential Reports.

Role of development partners

Institutional training and technical assistance from development partners such as UNICEF might back the initiative. The minister stated that Parliament and its institutions must also invest in building their own capacities for this work. He highlighted a transition away from simple financial auditing to place increased focus on audits of efficiency and performance. The Auditor General should give equal importance to assessing actual performance and outcomes of key social sector initiatives.