Auditing the accounts of private entrepreneurs who exploit public resources and generate revenue has become imperative with the government retracting from the public sector, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Shashi Kant Sharma has said.
Delivering a lecture on ‘Good governance and public auditing’ organised by the State Planning Board in association with the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT) here on Wednesday, Mr. Sharma said the definition of public resources was evolving and following the withdrawal of government from critical economic activities and growing public-private interface, auditing private accounts had become a major challenge.
This calls for sound and independent regulatory institutions, redefining accounting structures, and a speedy and effective investigation system.
Mr. Sharma said that many key recommendations of the CAG did not come to public glare at all. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as well as Parliament and legislatures should take a proactive role in this score. He had a word of praise for the PAC of Kerala for its efficient functioning. The CAG did not have the authority to fix accountability on someone for the lapses detected by the auditors. Parliament and the PAC should work out a system for fixing the accountability for the lapses, he said.
