{"id":35422,"date":"2025-01-14T19:23:58","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T13:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=35422"},"modified":"2025-01-16T16:58:22","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T11:28:22","slug":"comptroller-and-auditor-general-of-india-cag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/14-01-2025\/comptroller-and-auditor-general-of-india-cag","title":{"rendered":"Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Polity and Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)<\/strong> gained political attention after its report on the renovation costs of the office and residence of former Delhi Chief Minister.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The CAG plays a critical role in ensuring <strong>financial accountability and transparency <\/strong>in <strong>India\u2019s governance system.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The CAG is the <strong>supreme audit authority of India,<\/strong> responsible for auditing government accounts and ensuring accountability in public finance management.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Articles 148 to 151<\/strong> of the Indian Constitution provide the framework for the appointment, duties, and reporting structure of the CAG.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Comptroller and Auditor General\u2019s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971<\/strong>, determines the CAG\u2019s service conditions and prescribes the duties and powers of their office.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Historical background<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The role of CAG evolved in British India and the <strong>Government of India Act 1858 <\/strong>paved the way for appointment of the first Auditor General, <strong>Sir Edward Drummond in 1860.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Under the <strong>Montford Reforms of 1919,<\/strong> the Auditor General became independent of the Government.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Government of India Act, 1935 <\/strong>strengthened the position of the Auditor General and the<strong> Government of India Order 1936<\/strong> provided for the conditions of services of the Auditor General.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Duties and responsibilities of CAG<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Audits expenditure from the<strong> Consolidated Fund of India<\/strong>, states, and union territories with Legislative Assemblies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Audits expenditure from the <strong>Contingency Fund and Public Account of India<\/strong> and those of the states.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Audits transactions related to<strong> debt, sinking funds, deposits, advances, suspense accounts, and remittance business<\/strong> with Presidential approval.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Audits accounts of any authority if <strong>requested by the President or Governor.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Audits Reports Submitted by CAG to the President of India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India submits <strong>three audit reports <\/strong>to the President of India (Article 151).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Audit report on appropriation accounts:<\/strong> This report shows how the legislature-granted money was allocated to different heads of expenditure and grants. It also verifies if the money was spent for the intended purpose.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Audit report on finance accounts: <\/strong>This report shows the annual receipts and expenditures of the country.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Audit report on public undertakings: <\/strong>This report covers the finances and expenditures of various Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>After receiving the reports, the President lays them before both houses of Parliament. <strong>The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) <\/strong>then examines the reports and submits its findings to Parliament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Impact of CAG Reports<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>CAG reports often highlight<strong> financial losses and procedural lapses,<\/strong> influencing policy changes and accountability measures.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Example:<\/strong> 2010 report on the allocation of 2G spectrum licenses, which led to significant policy reforms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concluding remarks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>CAG\u2019s audits and recommendations have led to significant policy corrections in the past, emphasizing the importance of an empowered and independent audit authority in a democracy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/political-pulse\/sheesh-mahal-aap-row-cag-9769353\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>IE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) gained political attention after its report on the renovation costs of the office and residence of former Delhi Chief Minister.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35424,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35422\/revisions\/35424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}