Audit of social sector schemes a must: CAG

NEW DELHI: Comptroller and Auditor General Shashi Kant Sharma on Tuesday emphasized on the need for mandatory social audit of social sector schemes as they lacked transparency and accountability.

Speaking at a conference on social audit here, the CAG said expenditure of central and state governments that directly impacts socio-economic development was estimated to be Rs 17 lakh crore in 2013-2014.

“This implies that an average of Rs 2,656 crore is incurred as ‘development expenditure’ per district. But the accountability and transparency mechanism in local bodies have not been commensurate with increasing responsibilities and flow of ever increasing funds,” he said.

Stressing on the need to carry out social audits, Sharma said he has asked his audit offices in states to evaluate the quality of evidence emerging from social audits and analyze them so that they can become useful in CAG audits.

The meeting on Tuesday was attended by central and state government officials and civil society members, including Aruna Roy who has been carrying out social audits in Rajasthan.

The auditor said a large portion of ‘development expenditure’ is being executed through the local bodies such as panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies.

“These local bodies are important service delivery tools and are performing most of the flagship programmes of the central and state governments,” Sharma said seeking more vigilance on these bodies, particularly how they spend as they are key to successful implementation of employment generation, infrastructure, agriculture, drinking water, sanitation, education, and several other welfare schemes.

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Source:Timesofindia