Jammu, November 16 (Scoop News) – The Governor, N. N. Vohra, today called for strengthening the Public Accounts Committees and the Estimates Committees of the State Legislatures for securing much greater accountability in regard to the spending of public funds and go a long way in promoting financial discipline in the functioning of the administrative apparatus.
The Governor was addressing a function organized at General Zorawar Singh Auditorium, University of Jammu, in connection with the 150th anniversary celebrations of the institution of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, here today.
The Governor, who was the Chief Guest on the occasion, said that every one functioning in any wing of the governmental system is duty bound to be fully conscious of his responsibility of ensuring against any loss to public funds. He stressed the need to ensure greater financial discipline, if the objectives of good governance are to be achieved. In this context, he referred to the crucial role which the CAG at the Centre and the Principal Accountants General in the States can play in promoting good governance.
The Governor extensively dwelt on the history and evolution of the CAG’s institution and observed that the whole philosophy of audit has changed from mere Accounting and Audit, as it was in the years past. In the recent years the focus has shifted to effective audits of procurement procedures, costs, operations and actual outcomes. He added that in our framework, the CAG is a high constitutional authority enjoying a unique and important position. He mentioned that in the past 63 years, since Independence, the scale of financial resources available to the Union and the States has gone up by hundreds of times. Monitoring the spending of such large funds is a serious challenge. This challenge can be met effectively by ensuring improved accounting of all public spending.
The Governor said that in the past years the CAG has undertaken very fruitful audits of several national flagship programmes like SSA and MGNREGA, and this would hopefully contribute to promoting greater accountability and transparency. He also appreciated the various measures initiated by the Finance Minister, J&K Government, for encouraging enhanced transparency and accountability in the fiscal sector.
The Governor congratulated the Principal Accountant General, his colleagues and staff on this occasion.
Earlier, the Governor lit the ceremonial lamp to mark the commencement of the celebrations.
The Minister for Finance, Abdul Rahim Rather, who was the Guest of Honour, also spoke on the occasion.
In his keynote address, the Principal Accountant General, Jammu and Kashmir, Venkatesh Mohan, dwelt on the historical background, nomenclatures, powers and functioning of the institution of the CAG. Laying emphasis on the financial accountability, he said that every rupee we spend must be accounted for. He said that it has been the continuous effort of this institution to promote excellence in ensuring highest standards of accountability. He expressed his gratitude to the Governor for participating in the inaugural function of the celebrations.
The Vice Chancellor, Jammu University, Prof. Varun Sahni, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-J, Dr. B. Mishra and the Director General of Police, Kuldeep Khoda, were present on the occasion.
The Deputy Accountants General, Y. J. Dassi highlighted the Accounts and Entitlement functions of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, while s. Pushpa Devi, gave an account of the basic audit functions.
The Deputy Accountant General, T. Jharchin presented the Vote of Thanks.
A power point presentation was also made on the historical background of the institution of the CAG on the occasion.
The function started with saraswati vandana, which was presented by the students of the Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.
A number of senior officers and officials of the office of the Principal Accountant General, J&K participated in the function.