“A fundamental key to audit success”, says the author of Sawyers’ Internal Audition Larry Sawyer “is the reputation for objectivity. That implies independence from activities reviewed.” At this prospective, an authority was formulated to usher the government and people to the path of development and prosperity. It was named Comptroller and Auditor General of India or simply abbreviated as CAG.
Governments are made for people - as long as this idealistic concept remains, an observatory body is indispensably required to meet its end by ‘promoting public accountability and good governance.’ This helps to realize the mission of Nation First, Always First. Actually all these allude to the very vision of our constitution and which just overpassed 75 years of the county’s Independence.
Constitutional Necessity
After India won Independence from the shackles of British Imperialism and the first national government started to work, the country primarily required an absolute set of principles and laws encompassing all citizens with their differing geography, languages, creeds and customs. The intense necessity turned into responsibility of the newly born indigenous national government brought forth the Constitution of India by the handworks of Dr. BR Ambedkar and his team.
The new constitution, labeling India as ‘sovereign, democratic, republic republic’ excelled the whole world in the hues of its proximity to people. So then, the country will be run in accordance with the directives of the Constitution. Legislation, judiciary, governance, administration, corporations and their related expenditures will be bound in its obedience. No violation, no compromise will be tolerated although it might be from the authority itself. That’s what a newly elected audit officer takes the charges with affirming the oath,
“…I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, that I will duly and faithfully and to the best of my ability, knowledge and judgment perform the duties of my office without fear of favour, affection or ill-will and that I will uphold the Constitution and the laws.”
Necessarily, a statutory for supervision might be set up in flow. Thus the CAG has passed 75 years of Indian Independence supervising good governance for the sake of the country and its people. So, it’s also a matter of concern how deftly the authority reflected the Constitution’s vision and made a truly Azad India where Mahotsav undoubtedly would be celebrated. Yes, the constitution itself established it under Article 148 to materialize the vision it set up during the Times of Necessity.
A Historical Evolution: Colonized and Independent Structures
Not to take it mistakenly that auditing authority came as an experimental new shot in the country. Rather, it was well erected years before independence. A day to celebrate its accreditation Audit Divas was selected following the year when Sir Edward Drummond became the first Auditor General of British India in 1860. Actually, it’s the reference time to state that the process of audition and good governance started and its evolution continued upward the Independence and later times.
Newly freed India followed the same structure of auditing shown by the British as long as 1950 from the first Auditor General V. Narahari Rao took the charge in 1948. The framework changed during this period and it became the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. This time too, Mr. Narahari became first to take on the office of self-reliant India. Now he served up to 1954 consecutively two terms of two different offices. Till today, the same body structure remains working though it went through different amendments following flexibility and rigidity and coping up with the pace of time.
Bounce of Responsibilities
Financial stability is one of the most important factors behind the incumbency of a government and prosperity of citizens. It matters to a length that there has been multiple precedents of contradiction between faith of people and assertion of government or any affiliated body, when the corruption happens, which finally causes the consequential fall. Here, the CAG of India plays a pivotal role.
The constitutional obligations prescribed for the Comptroller and Auditor General are intricately explicit in the oath he takes during the appointment before the First Citizen of Country, President or his/her officials. In addition, his/her duties and responsibilities have been overtly numerated by the constitution in its later amendments. Similarly, the office holder of CAG of India has been wielded with many constitutional powers at a prospect to lead entrusted activities at a smooth pace without any hindrance. For example, the legislation of Indian Parliament named as Comptroller and Auditor General’s (Duties, Powers, and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 defines the subject matters in a lucid explanation.
Different provisions of the constitution (Articles 148-151) assert this relative sovereignty of CAG. Comparatively, the authority of a CAG is parallel with a Judge of the Supreme Court in terms of selection, assertion and termination. Without such subjective authority, the functionaries of India’s Comptroller and Audit General may get into malpractices. As the Nobel Prize laureate Rigobeta Menchu says in a section titled ‘The Plague of Corruption: Overcoming Impunity and Injustice’ under the Global Corruption Report 2001,
“Without strong watchdog institutions, impunity becomes the very foundation upon which systems of corruption are built. And if impunity is not demolished, all efforts to bring an end to corruption are in vain.”
In addition, it is not restrained only in the central realms but also extends to union states, their statutory bodies and other financial sectors. Thus, working as a watchdog the CAG helps to strengthen the federal tie of the country. Along with, the duty circle of the CAG office includes preparing income-expenditure reports, certification of tax proceedings, clearance of fund transactions, completion and auditing of accounts under the union and state, related inspections etc. Likewise, as well as it enfolds other body’s duty to audit funds, property, value-money, performance and related systems. But, in all these maneuvers the office should be fair, unbiased and free from preconceptions only to bring a decisive and genuine conclusion. The final report should be submitted to the respective authority of the government. Following all these provisions and directions, the Comptroller and Audit General of India truly reflects the very vision of the country's constitution.
By this way, the CAG office can save the country from corruption of the government whether of union or state, their statutory bodies and companies. It audits the system which if corrupted can’t be corrected with liability by ordinary people. Thus, their authority means a lot for India's financial stability which directly affects different indigenous and foreign policies mostly hammering on poor citizens. Citizens are themselves what the constitution proclaims ‘We, the people of India…’
Moments of Utsav
Focusing the goal of good governance, CAG of India has many success stories to tell with every passing year. By clubbing them all, in a series of accomplishments, it becomes a grand event – Mahotsav to celebrate. What will be the juicy taste of this water of immortality – the Amrit to drink!
Commitment of the authority to ensure democratic values by appropriation of public funds has brought many unprecedented people-centric moments. In this process, without any grudge the CAG office has synchronized with media reports and accountability of other institutions. With an apolitical sense of duty, the statutory body has been a promoter of democracy establishing a legacy of transparency. One of the CAG chairs once said, “We are not cheerleaders of the government. We are faultfinders.”
To count some instances, CAG has scrutinized multiple schemes, their funding, expenditure and impacts and put forth their pros and cons a question of liability as in the report of Jalyukt Shivar Abhiya of Maharashtra Government in 2020. So more, CAG has critically scrutinized the punctuality of government’s reports submission, railways improvement projects etc. Similarly, the recent robust achievement of the body in different IT (Information Technology) systems is too worthy of mention. All these back-push to the government. authorities become an incentive for more improved outcomes, unless the government’s ‘lack of responsiveness’ may lead the country and its people to serious consequences. At the same time, some cases of delay in audit reports and other mismanagement of CAG itself are also reported. If so, then there will be no way for the financial stability of India even after being one the biggest contributors of the global economy. The dream of a celebration will never be accomplished. Thanks to the CAG, that didn’t happen. All citizens desirously would celebrate the country with Amrit Mahatosv. .
Standing as a question maker the action of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India makes different reactions of progress. Most importantly, the stance of CAG makes India's constitution and its democracy tangibly accessible to the countrymen.
(I wrote this piece to participate in the 2022 essay writing competition organized by Comptroller and Audit General of India. However, I got no position.)
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