President Mukherjee cites CAG's importance

The Constitution envisages CAG as an independent constitutional authority which advises legislature by pointing out mistakes and deviations in expenditure, President Pranab Mukherjee today said here.
Addressing the officer trainees of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, he said an Accountant General was first created in 1858. The post was then re-designated as the Auditor General of India. Under the Constitution of post-Independent India, it came to be known as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
The President said the Indian Constitution envisages the CAG as an independent constitutional authority.
The Constitution has given the CAG a mandate to help the legislature to keep an eye on the executive. In our parliamentary democracy, the CAG advises the legislature by pointing out mistakes and deviations in expenditure, Mukherjee said.

"The need to ensure the independence of CAG was extensively debated in the Constituent Assembly and it was provided that the CAG can be removed only by impeachment," he was quoted as saying in a press release issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The audit reports by CAG including those on second generation (2G) spectrum and coal blocks allocations have led to political storms in the country.

The character, content and size of the Indian economy has vastly changed over the years and this requires that the Indian Audit and Accounts Service constantly upgrades skills of its officers, Mukherjee said.
A group of 24 officer trainees of Indian Audit and Accounts Service including two officer trainees from Royal Audit Authority of Bhutan (2014 batch) called on the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

The President wished the officers well in their jobs and asked them to uphold the highest professional standards.
The officer trainees are presently undergoing their professional training at National Academy of Audit and Accounts, Shimla.