New Delhi, 14 March 2015: Lok Sabha Speaker Smt. Sumitra Mahajan inaugurated the All India Conference of Chairpersons of the Committee on Public Undertakings of Parliament and State/UT Legislatures to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings in Parliament House Annexe today.
Emphasizing the imperative of legislative control and supervision over utilization of public money, Smt. Mahajan observed that the role of public undertakings can hardly be overemphasized. Over the years, these state-owned undertakings have built our nation brick-by-brick, and have, thus, remained the driving engines of growth and development. She felt that it is imperative on the part of Parliament and State Legislatures to ensure that the public money involved in the working of these undertakings is not mis-utilized. She noted that the Committee on Public Undertakings had worked over the years as an effective legislative mechanism to ensure control and accountability over these undertakings.
She further noted that, with the liberalization of our economy, the public sector undertakings are now faced with competition from both the domestic private sector companies and the large multi-national corporations. As such, the need for public undertakings today is to perform, prove and justify their existence as economically viable enterprises. In this context, the Committee on Public Undertakings, has to ensure that the public sector undertakings not only perform in consonance with the defined socio-economic objectives, but also outperform their counterparts in the private sector.
Smt. Mahajan highlighted that the Committee on Public Undertakings in the Parliament has undertaken numerous studies and submitted recommendations which have had far-reaching impacts on the working and management of our public undertakings. In doing so, the committee has covered several common areas of functioning of the undertakings such as project planning and implementation, organization and management, financial and production management, personnel and human resource management, to mention a few. By implementing the valuable recommendations of the Committee, many of state-owned enterprises have succeeded in overcoming the problems they had been facing earlier.
Earlier, welcoming the distinguished gathering, Chairperson of Committee on Public Undertaking Shri Shanta Kumar said that public undertakings have played a pivotal role in the development of the country. To a certain extent, these undertakings have achieved their objectives successfully. He felt that the examination of their functioning is very important which is carried out by this Committee on the lines of the Public Accounts Committee of Lok Sabha. He hoped that participants would be benefitted with the conclusions drawn after intensive discussions during the Conference.
On the occasion, Lok Sabha Speaker also released a souvenir to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Committee on Public Undertakings to mark the occasion.
The two-day Conference, being attended by Chairpersons and Members of Committees on Public Undertakings of Parliament and State Legislatures, will provide them a unique opportunity to share their views on the following critical issues concerning Public Sector Undertakings and the working of the respective Committees on Public Undertakings :
- Committee on Public Undertakings: Historical perspective and mandate vis-à-vis achievements;
- Issues relating to furnishing of comprehensive, focused and timely replies/action taken notes/materials, etc. by the concerned Ministries/Departments/PSUs;
- Impact of recommendations of Committee on Public Undertakings; and
- Parliamentary oversight in the context of autonomy and efficiency of Public Undertakings – Role of Committee on Public Undertakings.
