Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that it is necessary to change the negative image of audit. Auditors scrutinize the accounts of the Government while being actually alert, cautious and vigilant. Auditors are helpful to the Government in preventing unnecessary expenditure.
Audit para and their suggestions are the lessons of good governance. Chouhan was addressing the inaugural session of the one-day 'Role of Audit in Reforming Governance' seminar at Minto Hall, Bhopal under Audit Awareness Week.
The Chief Minister said that Governments organize various types of days like Environment Day, Sports Day, Teacher's Day etc. in the country, but it is an irony that we have not specially organized any day focused on audit.
It is because of the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he started efforts in this direction to eradicate the negative image of audit institutions.
Audit Day was celebrated for the first time in the country on November 16, 2021 under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. The Chief Minister congratulated all the audit institutions and the officers and employees working in them. Chief Minister Chouhan said that the history of audit in India is more than 160 years old.
The CAG institution,Chouhan said that there was a time when there would be doubts of different kinds in Government departments regarding audit.
The auditors were known to be people who looked for loopholes in everything, blaming the government, who ask unnecessary questions, and intimidators who showed even a small mistake in bad light or scare people.
Chouhan said that there is a need to understand the importance of CAG institution. Keeping CAG's dutifulness and loyalty to the Constitution, there is a need to see it as a friend, complement and ally of the government. Any democracy can function strongly only when its three organs, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, discharge their respective responsibilities with coordination and balance. The contribution of CAG in this work is noteworthy.
The Chief Minister said that the role of CAG is very important because he always remains alert, cautious and vigilant. Auditors have their own impartial and independent opinion on every issue.
They scrutinize the accounts of the government carefully. They play a supporting role like the ENT of Public Accounts, Public Undertakings and Estimates Committee of the House.
They ensure adherence to the principles of fairness, transparency and economy in the expenditure of government money. Auditors help the government to prevent wasteful expenditure.