News Analysis India

Tag: CAG

  • ICAI And CAG Launched Specialized Courses For 12th Pass Panchayat And Municipal Accountants, Here Are The Details |

    New Delhi: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) have forged a collaborative initiative aimed at launching a comprehensive certificate course tailored for accountants engaged in the financial management of panchayats and municipalities. This joint endeavor introduces four specialized courses focusing on advanced accounting practices, each meticulously crafted to address the specific requirements of diverse governmental entities.

    Enrollment for these courses is facilitated through an exclusive platform hosted at lba.icaiarf.org.in, ensuring accessibility for interested candidates year-round. The courses, meticulously structured to accommodate professional commitments, are delivered entirely online, affording participants the flexibility to engage with course materials at their convenience, irrespective of geographical constraints.

    So, what exactly do these courses entail?

    The curriculum encompasses two distinct certificate programs, meticulously designed to cater to the unique operational dynamics prevalent across various tiers of governmental bodies. The first set of certificate courses caters to accountants operating within panchayats, bifurcated into Level 1 tailored for gram panchayats and Level 2 targeting district and block panchayats. Additionally, specialized certificate courses are available for municipal entities, with Level 1 catering to Nagar Panchayats and Level 2 focusing on municipal corporations and municipalities. The overarching goal of these meticulously curated programs is to equip accountants with the requisite skills and expertise essential for effective financial management within their respective administrative spheres.

    But what awaits candidates upon successful completion of these courses?

    Graduates are conferred their certificates digitally, streamlining the certification process and facilitating instantaneous access to their credentials. Furthermore, the consortium maintains a publicly accessible registry of certificate holders on its website, fostering transparency and enabling seamless verification and acknowledgment of accomplishments.

    And there’s more – comprehensive study materials are provided to aid candidates in their preparatory endeavors. These resources include an array of e-study materials accessible online, prerecorded revisionary lectures for thorough review, and MCQ-based tests to facilitate practice and evaluation. Moreover, dedicated live virtual revisionary sessions, tailored specifically for the main examination, offer interactive platforms for enhanced comprehension and preparation. Currently available in 10 languages, including English, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Oriya, Gujarati, Kannada, Bengali, and Punjabi, the study material is poised for expansion to encompass additional languages in the near future.

  • CAG seeks documents related to financial irregularities in Corbett Tiger Reserve

    By PTI

    RISHIKESH: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has sought documents related to alleged financial irregularities in the Kalagarh and Lansdowne forest divisions of the Corbett Tiger Reserve from Uttarakhand’s Head of Forest Force Vinod Kumar Singhal.

    Singhal had written to the state government recently, recommending a CAG probe into the alleged misappropriation of funds worth crores of rupees in the two forest divisions of the reserve.

    Now, the CAG has sought relevant documents from the officer to start its probe.

    Funds worth crores of rupees from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority and other heads had been released for the two forest divisions but were not utilised for works they were meant for, Singhal had said.

    Suspended IFS officer Kishan Chand misused Rs 1.43 crore of the funds to buy refrigerators and air conditioners rather than spending the amount on sanctioned works, he alleged.

    The then head of forest force and chief wildlife warden also did not pay attention to the irregularities committed by Kishan Chand, who was the DFO of Kalagarh, Singhal further claimed.

    Large-scale misappropriation of funds committed during Kishan Chand’s tenure has come to light, the official added.

    The National Tiger Conservation Authority first conducted a probe into the allegations.

    Taking suo motu cognisance of its findings, the Uttarakhand High Court conducted a probe into the irregularities.

    The matter finally reached the Supreme Court and a central empowered committee is now probing it.

    The then Ranger Brij Bihari Sharma, DFO Kishan Chand and Chief Wildlife Warden J S Suhag are currently under suspension.

  • PM Narendra Modi, ex-CAG Vinod Rai should apologise for ‘conspiracy’ to oust UPA-II government: Congress

    Nirupam had filed the defamation case against Rai after the former CAG in his book in 2014 made the allegation against him and repeated it in interviews to the media.

  • Ex-CAG Vinod Rai tenders unconditional apology to Sanjay Nirupam in defamation case

    By IANS

    NEW DELHI: Former CAG Vinod Rai on Thursday apologised to Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam in a defamation case filed by the latter.

    The case was being heard in the Patiala House court in Delhi.

    Sanjay Nirupam said, “Finally former CAG Vinod Rai tendered an unconditional apology to me in a defamation case filed by me in MM Court, Patiala House, New Delhi today. He must apologize to the nation now for all his forged reports about 2G and Coal block allocations done by the UPA Govt.”

    The case pertains to a book which was written by Vinod Rai in 2015 and during its publicity allegedly had said that when he was investigating the coal block allocation, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam had met him and told him not to mention Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s name.

    The Congress leader said it was totally false and first he asked him to withdraw his comment, but when did not do so, he filed a case in the Patiala House Court.

    In his affidavit, Rai said, “That I understand the pain and agony my statement had caused to Shri Sanjay Nirupam, his family and well-wishers, I offer my unconditional apology.”

    He said, “I had inadvertently and wrongly mentioned the name Sanjay Nirupam as one of the MPs who had pressured me to keep the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s name out of CAG report on 2G spectrum during the meeting of PAC and JPC.”

    He said Nirupam’s name was factually incorrect.

    In 2017, a special CBI court had acquitted all the 18 accused, including A Raja and  Kanimozhi, in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

    The scam came to light almost seven years ago when the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in a report held then Telecom Minister A Raja responsible for causing the state exchequer a loss of Rs 1,76,379 crore by allocating 2G spectrum licences at throwaway prices.

  • Assam government failed to address irregularity queries of Rs 2,15,286 crore in 25 years: CAG

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The Assam government is yet to settle queries regarding alleged irregularities to the tune of Rs 2,15,286 crore highlighted by the CAG in various departments over a span of 25 years since 1994, according to the latest report of the public auditor tabled in the state assembly.

    In its report on social, economic (non-PSUs), and general sectors for the financial year that ended on March 31, 2019, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said that the alleged irregularities were pointed out in 2,734 inspection reports (IRs) issued between 1994-95 and 2018-19 covering 55 departments of the state government.

    “We report that on IRs issued up to December 2018, 39,479 paragraphs pertaining to 6,385 IRs were outstanding for settlement at the end of June 2019,” said the report, which was tabled during the ongoing Budget Session of the Assam assembly.

    ALSO READ | CAG pulls up Assam government on pension scheme for families of deceased staff

    These IRs are related to various departments like Public Health Engineering, PWD, Water Resource, Irrigation and Inland Water Transport, and other civil departments, it said.

    “Of these, 1,208 IRs containing 5,262 paragraphs had not been replied to/settled for more than 10 years.

    Even initial replies, which were required to be received from the heads of offices within four weeks from the date of issue, were not received from 55 departments in respect of 2,734 IRs containing 20,575 paragraphs issued between 1994-95 and 2018-19.

    “As a result, serious irregularities commented upon through 39,591 paragraphs involving Rs 2,15,285.77 crore, had not been addressed as of June 2019,” the CAG said.

    Giving a break-up of the figure, the auditor said that alleged irregularities of Rs 24,240.61 crore were related to non-observance of rules in respect of custody and handling of cash, maintenance of cash book and muster roll.

    Pending utilisation certificate and audited accounts of grant-in-aids resulted in possible irregularities of Rs 9,381.61 crore, while the delay in recovery of receipts, advances and other charges added up to alleged irregularities of Rs 8,821.35 crore.

    The CAG said that the actual payees’ receipts wanting was estimated at Rs 7,309.12 crore, non-receipt of securities from persons holding cash and stores stood at Rs 1,056.29 crore, and non-recovery of overpayments were found to be at Rs 673.62 crore.

    Not maintaining stores properly cost the exchequer Rs 602.28 crore, while Rs 155.54 crore alleged irregularities have been attributed to the want of sanction to write-off loans and losses, it said.

    The CAG has further put Rs 1,63,045.36 crore of alleged irregularities under the head “others”.

    “Non-receipt of replies to the IRs in respect of the 55 departments were indicative of the failure on the part of the heads of departments (directors/executive engineers) to initiate action with regard to defects, omissions and irregularities pointed out by audit,” the report stated.

    The commissioners and secretaries, who are superiors to directors and executive engineers concerned, were informed of the status of these IRs through half-yearly reports, but they too “failed to ensure prompt and timely action” by the officers of the respective departments, it said.

    “The above-mentioned facts also indicate inaction against the defaulting officers thereby facilitating continuation of serious financial irregularities and potential loss to the government though these were pointed out in the audit,” the CAG said.

    The report noted that the government had constituted one Audit Objection Committee (AOC) in May 2018 to discuss the outstanding audit objections up to 2017-18.

    It has so far discussed 1,102 IRs and 5,512 paragraphs, of which only 91 IRs and 981 paragraphs have been settled.

    The CAG recommended that the state government reviews the matter and ensure an effective system for action against defaulting officials who fail to reply to the IRs; recover losses, outstanding advances and overpayments, and revamp the entire mechanism for prompt and timely responses to audit observations.

  • Comptroller and Auditor General GC Murmu selected as external auditor for Hague-based OPCW

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India’s Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) was on Wednesday chosen as the external auditor by a prestigious intergovernmental organisation working for the elimination of chemical weapons, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

    It said that India’s election is a recognition of its standing among the international community. The MEA said in a statement said that the Hague-based Conference of State Parties of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) selected the CAG as its external auditor for a three-year term starting 2021.

    It said the appointment was made through an election process at the OPCW conference on Wednesday where India received overwhelming support ahead of others. “India’s election was a recognition of its standing among the international community as well as the professionalism, high standards, experience globally and competitive bid by the CAG of India,” the MEA said.

    “India was also selected as the member of the executive council of the OPCW representing Asia group for another two-year term during the OPCW conference of state parties,” it said.

  • Lok Sabha passes NaBFID Bill; commercial decision-making kept out of CVC, CBI, CAG purview

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the development finance institution (DFI) being set up to fund the infrastructure sector will remain outside the purview of the CAG, CVC and CBI, a move aimed at enabling faster decision-making.

    The DFI, called the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID), however is going to be answerable to Parliament.

    The Lok Sabha later passed the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) Bill 2021 with voice vote.

    Replying to the debate on the Bill, the finance minister said, “It will be absolutely answerable to the Parliament. So we are not going to one extreme. Where there is no oversight at all, but that heavy fear of taking decisions as a result of overlapping oversight is now being given space wherein legitimate commercial decisions can be taken professionally.”

    Market watchers say genuine bonafide decisions in the banking sector are being impacted because of the worry of undue harassment by the ‘3Cs — Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and Comptroller and Audit General (CAG).

    Sitharaman also clarified that the government will be able to give sovereign guarantee even if its stake reduces to 26 per cent because it is not linked to stake but to the legislation.

    The government intends to bring down its stake in NaBFID from 100 per cent to 26 per cent once the institution stabilises.

    She also said the government will provide Rs 5,000 crore as grant and Rs 20,000 crore equity capital.

    This government-owned development finance institution will help fund about 7,000 infra projects under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).

    The legislation will give effect to the Budget announcement made by the finance minister on February 1.

    The government has proposed Rs 20,000 crore to capitalise the institution.

    The Union Cabinet had last week approved the Budget proposal of setting up the DFI, which will have tax benefits to enable fund raising from investors.

    The government expects the DFI to leverage this fund to raise up to Rs 3 lakh crore in the next few years.

    The Bill seeks to establish the NaBFID to support the development of long term non-recourse infrastructure financing in India, including development of the bonds and derivatives markets necessary for infrastructure financing.

    As per the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill, it seeks to enable the central government, multilateral institutions, sovereign wealth funds, and such other institutions to hold equity in the NaBFID.

    It proposes to enable the institution to provide financial assistance to infrastructure projects located in India or partly in the country and to enable the company to borrow or raise money by way of loans both in rupees and foreign currencies.

    It also provide adequate safeguards for decision making to address risk aversion and proposes establishment of other development financial institutions, in addition to the NaBFID established under the proposed legislation.

    “The Institution shall have both developmental and financial objectives. Among other things, this would include developing a deep and liquid bond market of international standards for long-term infrastructure financing in India including through widening of the issuer and investor base,” it said.

    It would also facilitate the development of markets for interest rate derivatives, credit derivatives, currency derivatives and such other innovative financial instruments as may be necessary for infrastructure financing, it said.

    “The financing objectives would involve establishing a credible framework that attracts equity investments from domestic and global institutional investors as well as debt investments, including green finance, from investors, aligned to their risk appetite and asset-liability profile, in order to cater the financing needs of Indian infrastructure sector,” it said.

    The government will provide the institution with grants and contributions, guarantees at concessional rates for foreign borrowings and any other concessions, the Bill said, adding that dilution or sale of stake may be considered once the NaBFID has achieved stability and scale.

    The Bill proposes to establish the head office of the institution in Mumbai and permits to form subsidiaries or joint ventures or branches, in India or outside.

    The Centre would hold at least 26 per cent of the shares at all times, it said, adding concessional rate of fees should not exceeding 0.1 per cent for government guarantee.

    The performance of the institution would, once in every five years, be reviewed by an external agency to be appointed by the central government, it said.

    In her Budget 2019-20 speech, Sitharaman had proposed a study for setting up DFIs for promoting infrastructure funding.

    About 7,000 projects have been identified under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) with a projected investment of Rs 111 lakh crore during 2020-25.

    NIP, a first-of-its-kind initiative to provide world-class infrastructure across the country and improve the quality of life for all citizens, will be crucial for attaining the target of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by FY 2025.

  • CAG Girish Murmu is chief of UN panel of External Auditors again

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Girish Chandra Murmu, has been appointed chairman of the Panel of External Auditors of the United Nations for the second time in a row for 2021. 

    Currently, the panel consists of countries including India, Germany, Chile, China, the United Kingdom, France, Philippines, Switzerland, Italy, Ghana, Indonesia, Canada and Russia.

    As the chairman, India’s CAG plays a key role in achieving the panel’s objective of greater degree of collaboration and coordination among members and exchange of information on audit methods and findings.

    The CAG leads the panel as a distinctive forum to support the delivery of high quality, standards-based assurance to ensure that reported financial information provides a transparent and accurate basis for the decisions made by the UN and its agencies like WHO, FAO, WFP, WIPO etc.

    Like any other organisation, the accounts and management operations of the UN and its specialised agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency are required to be audited and reported on periodically by independent external auditors.

    The UN General Assembly in 1959 established the Panel of External Auditors, comprising individual external auditors of the United Nations system, who are also heads of supreme audit institutions of their countries.

    India’s CAG had earlier been on the UN Board of Auditors from 1993 to 1999 and from 2014 to 2020.  Currently, he is the external auditor of the World Health Organization (2020-2023), Food & Agriculture Organization (2020-2025) and Inter Parliamentary Union (2020-2022).

    In recent past, he has been the external auditor of the World Food Programme, World Intellectual Property Organization, International Atomic Energy Agency, UN World Tourism Organization, International Organization for Migration, International Maritime Organization and Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons etc.

  • Calcutta HC junks Mamata government plea over Amphan relief audit

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday rejected a plea filed by the Bengal government that sought a retraction of its judgment directing the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to audit cyclone Amphan-related relief distribution amid allegations of irregularities.

    Refusing to entertain the state government’s prayer, the division bench comprising Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed the CAG to complete the process as early as possible.

    Claiming that absolute transparency was maintained during the disbursement of funds to victims in 16 districts of the state, the application stated that the assistance was directly transferred to beneficiaries’ bank accounts to curb chances of any foul play.

    In its judgement on December 1, 2020, the division bench had urged the CAG to conclude financial audits within three months from receiving a copy of the order.

    The petitioners, in a set of PILs which were heard together, complained that the West Bengal government, through its officers, had, in an unauthorised manner, picked and chose persons for doling out the benefits.

    The petitioners also alleged that a large number of people, who were actually affected by the devastating supercyclone, were left empty-handed.

  • Chhattisgarh Housing Board arbitrary, not CAG, now local agency will audit earnings and expenses

    The Chhattisgarh Housing Board, which is constantly in the limelight due to corruption and anti-rules, has adopted a unique way of avoiding accountability. The board has changed the way it audits its earnings and expenses. Earlier the CAG used to be audited, but after several big irregularities and corruption revelations in the CAG report, the board changed the audit body. It has now been decided to conduct an audit from the local audit agency instead of the CAG.

    The Chhattisgarh Housing Board, which has tainted itself with many cases of corruption and serious economic irregularities, has taken the path of brightening, it is even more surprising. Instead of tightening up on corrupt officials and closing the path of corruption. The Housing Board thought it right to replace the glass which was showing its stain.

    The audit report of the CAG has revealed several economic irregularities of the Housing Board so far. Among these, the most discussed is the issue of government tender from the same laptop and to fill the contractor’s tender from the same laptop. Through this, a contract of billions was given to the close of an officer posted in Chhattisgarh Housing Board. After the CAG’s disclosure, the Housing Board has made a lot of disgrace, but now the Housing Board has decided to end all such questions by deciding not to conduct an audit with the CAG. However, the chairman of the board says that there is no place for corruption in the board. If the need arises, then you can also restore the audit system through CAG. However, away from the questions, many more questions have arisen on the Housing Board. In such a situation, it would be better to try to wash the stains on the board’s responsible side, not to hide it.