Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that skill upgrade and technological tools were essential for the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to meet the challenge of expeditious auditing.
Mr. Modi said while the country had set out for the target of a $5-trillion economy, the CAG’s functioning would have a direct impact on the government's efficiency, its decision and policy making, business establishments’ efficiency, investments in the country and the ease-of-doing-business system.
Speaking at the Accountants General and Dy. Accountants General Conclave, the Prime Minister said all the stakeholders required accurate audit reports, but a lengthy auditing process was a challenge that needed to addressed.
Mr. Modi suggested two ways: skill upgrade and training; and developing technological tools for simplifying the auditing processes.
In order to develop the technological tools, the Prime Minister said the CAG could, in coordination with the HRD Ministry, involve IT students in various institutions and organise hackathons annually. Sharing his experience, Mr. Modi said his office had written to all the departments, asking them to share the problems they faced. About 400 issues were finally identified.
The Prime Minister said the issues were, through a hackathon, presented before the IT students, who came up with solutions to most problems during a 36-hour exercise. About 80% of them had already been adopted, he said.
Stating that it was high time an old and experienced organisation like the CAG adopted speedy transformation, Mr. Modi said it could, through its recommendations, also help the government in evidence-based policy making.
He said huge data was stored with various government agencies, but it was often not shared or inter-linked. This led to accountability gaps, which also needed to be breached.
He also asked the CAG to help strengthen the internal and routine auditing process within the government agencies/departments, through pre-identification of standards for them on an annual basis. It would not only make the CAG’s job easier, but also improve the quality of governance.
The Prime Minister highlighted the use of technology by the government to bring in transparency in its functioning, particularly in the welfare schemes that helped save about ₹1.50 lakh crore.
