School of Law Mitali Srivastava 2023 24 Powers and Functions of the CAG

Summary

The video series explores the Controller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) critical role in ensuring financial accountability and efficiency. The CAG, empowered by the 1971 Act, acts as a custodian of financial narratives and conducts forensic audits. It scrutinizes financial activities from Union to state levels, ensuring compliance and financial integrity. The series delves into the audit process, including performance and system audits, and highlights the CAG's reports' significance in government decision-making. It also discusses the crucial oversight by committees like the Public Accounts Committee, emphasizing their joint role in maintaining financial norms and transparency.

Takeaways

• 📚 The Controller and Auditor General of India (CAG) plays a crucial role in upholding financial accountability and efficiency.
• 🏛️ The CAG's duties are categorized into maintaining accounts and conducting audits, serving as the custodian of financial narratives.
• 📜 The CAG derives its authority from the Controller and Auditor General's Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service Act of 1971.
• 🔍 The CAG has the power to scrutinize any office of accounts, from the Union to the states, and to summon accounts books, papers, and documents for review.
• 🗣️ Section 18 of the 1971 Act mandates the provision of facilities for CAG's inspection and compliance with requests for information.
• 📊 Audits conducted by the CAG include regularity, propriety, efficiency, performance, and system audits, ensuring a comprehensive examination of financial activities.
• 📝 The CAG compiles findings into comprehensive reports, which are formally presented to the government through Section 198 of the Act.
• 🔍 Performance audits evaluate economic use of resources, efficiency in optimization, and effectiveness in achieving program objectives.
• 🏢 Three key committees ensure financial accountability: the Estimates Committee, the Public Accounts Committee, and the Committee on Public Undertakings.
• 🛡️ These committees scrutinize expenditures, ensure funds are used as intended, and maintain adherence to financial norms and rules.

Q & A

What is the primary role of the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) of India?

The primary role of the CAG is to uphold financial accountability and efficiency within the expansive realm of responsibilities, which includes the compilation and preservation of accounts, and conducting a forensic examination into the intricacies that sustain the financial pulse of the nation.

From which Act does the CAG derive its authority?

The CAG derives its authority from the Controller and Auditor General's Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service Act of 1971.

What are the two overarching categories of duties that the CAG shoulders?

The two overarching categories of duties are the meticulous compilation and preservation of accounts, and the crucial art of audit, which includes a forensic examination into the financial aspects of the nation.

What does the CAG do with the accounts books, papers, and documents it summons?

The CAG scrutinizes the accounts books, papers, and documents for meticulous examination, poses queries, articulates observations, and engages in a substantive financial dialogue with the individuals in charge of these offices.

What is the significance of Section 18 of the 1971 Act?

Section 18 of the 1971 Act is significant as it mandates not only the provision of facilities for the CAG's inspection but also compliance with requests for information in a comprehensive format and with expedited efficiency.

What are the specific sections of the Act that govern audits?

The specific sections governing audits are Section 13 to 21, 23, and 24 of the Act.

What does the CAG's audit process entail?

The CAG's audit process entails a comprehensive examination that includes audits against provisions of funds, regularity audits, propriety audits, efficiency audits, performance audits, and system audits.

How are the findings from the CAG's audit process presented?

The CAG compiles all findings into a comprehensive report, which is then formally presented to the government through the provisions outlined in Section 198 of the Controller and Auditor General's Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service Act, 1971.

What are the key components evaluated in a performance audit?

The key components evaluated in a performance audit include economy, efficiency, and effectiveness, which assess the acquisition, holding, and use of resources; optimization of resource use; and goal attainment, respectively.

What is the role of the three committees in ensuring financial accountability?

The three committees - the Estimates Committee, the Public Accounts Committee, and the Committee on Public Undertakings - play a crucial role in ensuring financial accountability by scrutinizing expenditures, ensuring funds were available and applicable to designated services, and adhering to financial propriety and economy.

How does the CAG's work contribute to effective governance?

The CAG's work contributes to effective governance by providing a road map for improvement through performance audits, ensuring transparency, and adherence to financial norms, which in turn safeguards financial integrity.