Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

State departments, PSUs dodging audit proceedings

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs) are dodging mandatory audit proceedings, causing serious concern about financial discipline.

According to official records, all major departments have faulted in replying to inspection reports and audit paragraphs of the Accountant General (AG) of Kerala or submitting action taken notes (ATN) to the Public Accounts Committee of the State Legislature which scrutinises the yearly reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India tabled in the Assembly.

According to audit figures relating to revenue receipts, there are more than 1,900 inspection reports and 10,000 audit observations, involving Rs.1,044 crore for which replies have not been given by the departments of sales tax, State excise, motor vehicles, forest and wild life, registration and land revenue.

In the case of civil audit, more than 6,500 inspection reports and 22,500 audit paragraphs have not been replied to by nearly 35 departments, including agriculture, cooperation, finance, general education, health and family welfare, home, water resources, public works and revenue to name a few. According to sources in the Accountant General’s office, the figure could be much higher by the end of the current year. In the case of public sector undertakings, more than 5,000 paragraphs relating to 975 inspection reports remained outstanding till date. Of these, more than 350 inspection reports are one to five years old and have not been replied to.

State audit is carried out at various levels. The Principal Accountant General (audit)’s office conducts periodic inspection of government departments. This is followed up with inspection reports sent to various heads of departments.

Article 63(c) of the Kerala Financial code requires departments to provide replies within four weeks. According to the handbook of instructions for speedy settlement of audit objections, replies are to be given within one month from the day the Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU) presents its report to the Assembly.

There were 325 paragraphs for which ATNs have not been submitted to the COPU, up from six in 1998.

In the second stage, the AG’s office sends draft audit paragraphs to the concerned government secretaries through demi-official letters. According to the code, the government remarks are to be submitted within six weeks. In cases of non-replies, the CAG includes the contentious paragraphs in its official report submitted to the State Legislature annually.

According to Aryadan Mohammed, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, some the cases of non-filing of ATNs are more than 10 years.

He said the PAC was seized of the matter and had taken steps to ensure compliance with the constitutionally mandatory audit procedures.

According to audit report for 2007 (the latest available report) presented to the Assembly in March 2008, a review of outstanding ATNs on paragraphs included in 11 audit reports for revenue receipts between 1995 and 2005 showed that departments were not prompt in filing ATNs before the PAC.

The (COPU) of the Assembly, which scrutinises the AGs audit report (commercial) on public sector undertakings, is also grappling with indifference.

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