Former CAG pushes for more accountability in government
- While addressing a conference on the digitisation of public expenditure organized by the George Washington University and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation here,
- Rajiv Mehrishi (Former CAG) raised some issues regarding the Auditing System of India.
Concerns with Auditing System:
- The CAG officials see only the accounts that government departments want them to see.
- If you see the audit reports of CAG, we do not even come up to the insufficient standards of chartered accountants of private companies in the matter of assurance.
- CAG officials were faced with a strange situation where they were under pressure of time and the officers concerned said the “file is lost”.
- The way the accounts are, they are not properly auditable.
- The larger issue was that of the fundamental principle of Parliamentary democracy, that every rupee earned or spent had to be accounted for by the legislature.
- Now, with the kind of data we have, Parliament can draw no assurances that every rupee earned or spent is consistent with what they have approved.
- The solution to the problem was not just digitisation, but business process re-engineering.
Prelims Takeaway:
- CAG
- Parliamentary democracy