Page 3 - Cag

CAG shines a light on state govts' expenses, asks officials for clarity

The CAG last week raised concerns over unclassified expenditures, questioning state finance secretaries over 'hidden' funds marked for various handouts

Viksit Bharat 2047 goal tough without rural India's development: CAG

Without the development of hinterland, India cannot become Viksit Bharat or a developed nation by 2047, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Girish Chandra Murmu said on Tuesday. Noting that decentralisation of power has not taken to the extent it should have happened, he said, gram sabha or rural bodies are yet to get its due importance in the federal structure. "Without the development of grassroots level at the local level, we cannot achieve Viksit Bharat. More than 50 per cent people live in rural area, and until their governance, their development, their administration, their resources are not augmented, we will not be able to reach (Viksit Bharat goal). As our prime minister says that if everyone take one step, we will have 1.4 billion steps... that is why Jan Bhagidari is important," he said. There are about 2,60,000 panchayats and 7,000 urban local bodies in the country. He empahsied the need for strengthening of local bodies so that efficiency of government schem

CAG plans to develop its own AI for fast writing of audit reports

Comptroller and Auditor General of India G C Murmu on Wednesday said the supreme audit institution is in the process of developing its own Artificial Intelligence (AI) protocol for faster writing of its audit reports. "For data analysis and various other things, we have our own system in place...for the writing (audit reports) we have now started, so we have to see," he said here. "Data is collected by our auditors at the field from the records...in some cases, we have to reclassify according to our requirement. For that we run analytics...cleaning is done through the analytics," he said. Once cleaning of data is done and classification and integration made as per the requirement, he said, adding that algorithm biases are hardly there in analysing data. He said about 35 audit reports would be tabled in both Parliament and state assemblies during the upcoming winter session. About 200 reports are presented in a year by the office of CAG. Speaking about 16th Assembly of the Asian .

Kulwant Singh takes charge as Executive Director of regulatory body IBBI

Kulwant Singh, a 1999 batch officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, has taken charge as Executive Director of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), according to a release. Earlier, Singh has served as the Director General of Audit, East Coast Railway. "Kulwant Singh took charge as Executive Director, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), on 11th September 2024," a release dated September 11 by the IBBI said. Singh has a graduate degree in law. He has completed more than 25 years in various capacities in the office of Comptroller & Auditor General of India (C&AG). He was also posted as Principal Director of Audit in Embassy of India, Washington DC and Director of Audit in High Commission of India, London. Last year in December, IBBI announced that Jithesh John has taken charge as an executive director. Prior to that, IBBI in October had announced that Sandip Garg has assumed charge as a Whole Time Member in the Bankruptcy Board. IBBI is a key

Rs 782.2 cr given to 122K ineligible beneficiaries under KALIA scheme: CAG

The previous BJD government in Odisha had released Rs 782.26 crore for distribution of financial assistance to 12.72 lakh "ineligible" beneficiaries under its Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme, a CAG report said. In its report No 2 of the year 2024, the CAG said the scheme was launched in December 2018 to provide financial assistance to farmers, landless agriculture households and assistance to vulnerable agricultural households, life insurance support to cultivators and landless agricultural labourers, and interest-free crop loan. In February 2019, a sixth component 'KALIA scholarship' was added to provide scholarship on merit basis to the children of beneficiaries under the scheme pursuing professional courses in the state. During its launch, the government had promised Rs 5,000 per family per crop season for five crop seasons and Rs 12,500 to landless farm labourers in three years. "Due to lack of preparedness in planning, the government di

Revenue implication of Rs 4,162 cr as Odisha's iron-ore grade declined: CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) which conducted an audit of six iron-ore mines in Odisha has observed that after the auction of the selected mines, there was an "abrupt and abnormal decline in the grade of iron-ore and its classification", as reported by new lessees. "The decline of grade of iron ore has resulted in a revenue implication of approximately Rs 4,162.77 crore for the financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22 in the form of lesser royalty and premium (post auction)", the CAG said in its report No 6 of the year 2024, which was laid before the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday. Though more than 83 per cent production was reported in the grade of 62-65 per cent Fe (iron) in the pre-auction period, the same came down to approximately 16 per cent in the two years after auction (2020-2022), it said. Similarly, the auditor said, the share of grades 60 per cent Fe and below went up from approximately 11 per cent of total production to more than 60 per cent of total ...

Assam govt's outstanding debt rises 107% in 5 years from FY19: CAG

The Assam government's outstanding debt increased by over 107 per cent from 2018-19 to 2022-23 with the growth rate of outstanding liability also rising during the period, a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report said on Friday. The report for the 2022-23 fiscal, which was tabled in the assembly, noted that the capital expenditure by the state government decreased by over 20 per cent in FY'23 as compared to 2021-22. The outstanding debt of the state "rapidly increased by 107.34 per cent from Rs 59,425.61 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1,23,214.80 crore in 2022-23", the report said, adding that the growth rate of outstanding liability also increased from 20.60 per cent in 2018-19 to 23.32 per cent in 2022-23. The outstanding liabilities-GSDP ratio also rose from 19.21 per cent in 2018-19 to 24.98 per cent in FY'23 due to increased borrowings from the open market, the auditor said. The public debt constituted 81.98 per cent of the total borrowing at the end of 2022-23. During the year

CAG, General Court of Audit of Saudi Arabia sign pact for mutual support

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has signed a pact with the General Court of Audit, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to strengthen cooperation and exchange of expertise between the two nations in the field of public sector auditing. The area of cooperation encompasses conducting joint training programmes on topics related to financial, performance and compliance audits and exchange of audit manuals and audit methodologies, the CAG said. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Thursday in Riyadh. "Our commitment to a strong bilateral relationship is a witness to the shared values and objectives of our institutions and will serve to reinforce bonds between our SAIs and our nations," CAG Girish Chandra Murmu said. The CAG stated that the support and cooperation between the two SAIs will energise their capacity development initiatives and encourage exchange of knowledge and information between the two Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs). Hussam Abdulmohsen Alangari,

CAG signs pact with Uzbekistan's Chamber of Accounts to foster cooperation

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India signed a pact with Uzbekistan's Chamber of Accounts in Tashkent to foster international cooperation. The agreement, inked by the two supreme audit institutions, aims to enhance collaboration and exchange of expertise in the field of auditing between the two nations, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said in a statement. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishes a collaboration platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience amongst auditing professionals to develop the capacity for conducting audits. Girish Chandra Murmu, the CAG of India, expressed his confidence in the partnership, stating, "Our MoU is important as collaborative efforts and knowledge sharing among SAIs promote the dissemination of best practices and innovative solutions, creating a global network of expertise". Additionally, investing in capacity building ensures that Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) are equipped with the necessary skill

Goa's fiscal parameters improved under CM Pramod Sawant post Covid yrs: CAG

The CAG has appreciated the Pramod Sawant government's efforts in improving fiscal parameters, including increasing revenue surplus and bringing down fiscal deficit to GSDP ratio in the post-COVID years. A report of the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) till March 31, 2023, was tabled during the just-concluded session of the Goa Legislative Assembly. In an important achievement for the Sawant government, the CAG stated the state has succeeded in improving fiscal parameters like revenue, fiscal and primary deficits etc.\, compared to the previous four years. The report focused on the achievements of Chief Minister Sawant and the Finance Department team in improving the health of state finances very effectively post the COVID pandemic. The analysis of the report makes it clear that Sawant has been a very effective Finance Minister and achieved a majority of targets under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act and Rules. The report pointed out tremendous improveme

CAG flags financial loss of Rs 2,604 cr to Railways in 33 case studies

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has flagged financial losses to the Indian Railways to the tune of Rs 2604.40 crore in 33 case studies of non-recovery of loans and GST, improper decision to generate non-fare revenues, ineligible grant of concession, and unfruitful expenditures. According to the CAG, the instances mentioned in the report are those which came to notice in the test audit for the period 2021-22 as well as those which came to notice in earlier years, but could not be reported in the previous Audit Reports. In one of these 33 cases, the CAG said that the Ministry of Railways suffered a loss of Rs 834.72 crore in interest it was forced to pay to a third party on a loan of Rs 3,200 crore it had extended to IRCON for development of a land parcel. IRCON paid the loan along with interest but no development of the land parcel was done, it said. It recommended the fixing of the responsibility for this huge loss and avoid "decisions for generating Non-Fare ...

Shortage of medical, para staff in test checked hospitals of Railways: CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India said in its report that while carrying out an audit of Management of Health Services in Indian Railways' it observed the shortage of medical and para medical staff in test checked hospitals of the Zonal Railways. There was also shortage in availability of machines/medical equipment with reference to IPHS (Indian Public Health Standards) norms. Even the minimum requirement of machines/medical equipment as per clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act 2010 was not being met, the CAG said in its recent report. According to the CAG, the Indian Railways (IR) provide medical and health services to about one crore railway beneficiaries through 129 hospitals and 586 Health Units and the review on Management of Health Services in Indian Railways covered the issues for assessing the adequacy and quality of health services provided by it during the period 2017-18 to 2021-22. Audit examined the implementation of various policies and ..

CAG finds major irregularities in Jharkhand ULB's waste management projects

Major irregularities were detected in the performance audit of solid waste management in Jharkhand's urban local bodies (ULBs), according to the latest CAG report tabled in the assembly on Friday. Anomalies were found in planning and institutional mechanisms, financial management, implementation of solid waste management (SWM) projects, expenditures, and other areas, the report said. The performance audit involved test-checking 14 sampled ULBs out of 50, covering the financial years 2017-18 to 2021-22. This audit was conducted between July 2022 and January 2023 to assess the quality of SWM facilities, the report added. The state government notified the Jharkhand State Urban Sanitation Policy in 2018. The audit revealed that none of the 14 test-checked ULBs had prepared SWM plans. Additionally, nine out of the 14 ULBs failed to recognise organisations of informal waste pickers or collectors. "There was a 28 per cent vacancy for sanitary supervisors and an 89 per cent vacancy in the

Poor planning, mgmt delayed projects in Patna Smart Cities Mission: CAG

The deficient financial management, poor planning and inclusion of unfeasible projects resulted in delayed or incomplete execution of projects under the Smart Cities Mission in Patna, the CAG said in a report. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said that "unfeasible projects" were included in the list of 44 initially approved projects, indicating "poor planning on the part of Patna Smart City Limited (PSCL) and the Urban Development and Housing Department (UD&HD) of Bihar government". "This ultimately resulted in delayed/incomplete execution of projects. The financial management of PSCL was also deficient, as funds had been diverted for unapproved projects and incorrect utilisation certificates had been submitted," said the compliance audit report of the CAG for the year ended March 31, 2022, which was tabled in the Bihar assembly on Thursday. The contract management for the mission was also poor as the complete scheme did not fulfil the desired objectives, it ...

Strengthening of local governments crucial in realising SDGs: CAG

Strengthening of local governments is crucial in realizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), fostering grassroot engagement, and nurturing citizen ownership and accountability, Comptroller and Auditor General of India Girish Chandra Murmu said on Thursday. Local governments are key allies in global development efforts, essential for crafting and executing policies effectively, he said after inauguration of the International Centre for Audit of Local Governance (iCAL) here. They (local governments) operate at the grassroot level, promoting economic growth while addressing global challenges, such as climate change and the preservation of the blue economy, Murmu said. The iCAL is thus envisioned as a collaborative platform uniting policymakers, administrators, and auditors involved in local governments. This centre is committed to engaging with elected representatives, executive officials and auditors of local governments across India and from Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) and

States achieve 84% of capex budget, 4 exceed target amount: CAG data

States with the lowest capex absorption included Nagaland, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Mizoram, according to CAG data

CAG considering tax concessions as 'presumptive loss' not fair: Subbarao

If tax concessions announced by the government are treated as 'presumptive loss' by federal auditor Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), it would diminish democracy and not enhance it, opined former RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao. Subbarao, who held various positions including the Union finance secretary, wrote in his new book titled 'Just A Mercenary?: Notes from My Life and Career' about his involvement in the decision-making on the pricing of the 2G spectrum, an issue that embroiled the UPA-2 government amid charges of mammoth corruption. "If a democratically elected government decides to forego revenue in order to serve the larger public good of deepening telecom penetration, is it open to the CAG to substitute his own judgement for the government's and call it a 'presumptive loss'?" he asked. Subbarao was responding to a question on the 2G scam case and the CAG's investigation of the presumptive loss to the government during the UPA-2 period. "If the CAG is allowed t

Why are CBI, ED not interested in CAG reports on corruption: Pawan Khera

Congress leader Pawan Khera on Monday questioned probe agencies for not looking into CAG reports that he claimed had made allegations of corruption against the Union government. Addressing a press conference here, Khera, the Congress' national spokesperson, claimed CAG reports contained "serious allegations" of irregularities in infrastructure works like the Bharatmala Pariyojana, the Dwarka Expressway, all of which are part of the Union ministry of road transport and highways headed by Nitin Gadkari. Gadkari is the Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha candidate from Nagpur. He won the seat with huge margins in 2014 and 2019. Khera alleged the ministry had issued bonds worth Rs1 lakh crore without approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. He also claimed the National Highway Authority of India, which functions under the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, had taken huge loans "without application of mind", while its cost of construction had doubled. "Where is

Auditors should engage with stakeholders to gather input, says CAG Murmu

CAG of India Girish Chandra Murmu on Friday said auditors should engage with stakeholders to gather input, address concerns, and promote transparency and accountability. Addressing the three-day International Conference on Strengthening of Grassroots Democracy, he also emphasised on the need to prioritise audit procedures based on identified risks, focusing on areas with the highest potential for fraud, mismanagement, or regulatory non-compliance. "Together we need to advocate transparency and accountability in local government operations, encouraging the adoption of best practices in financial reporting and governance," Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said on the concluding day of the conference. He also stressed that auditors need to consider factors such as the size, complexity, and resources of the local government entity when applying auditing standards. Audit, Murmu said, should be familiar with the political, social, and economic context in which the local ...

SAI India committed to strengthen local governments audits, says CAG Murmu

CAG stressed the importance of transparency and accountability, stating, "These bodies are also vital for implementation of SDGs etc