CAG, ICAI to launch online courses to strengthen local bodies’ accounting
New Delhi, February 29, 2024
This third tier of governance is dealing with many schemes/projects concerning SDGs. Union Finance Commissions are providing direct devolution of around 4.2% of the total divisible pool. Murmu said.
CAG, ICAI, Chandra Murmu, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG),CAG Girish Chandra Murmu in Delhi on Wednesday. PTI
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has partnered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to develop a set of online courses to create a pool of certified accountants to strengthen accounting system at panchayat and municipal bodies, CAG Girish Chandra Murmu said Wednesday.
Addressing the inaugural session of the International Conference on Strengthening of Grassroots Democracy, Murmu said, “SAI (Supreme Audit Institution) India has also partnered… to develop a set of online courses, pitched at the required level of knowledge and skills for maintaining the accounts of different categories of local governments. Thereby, creating a pool of certified accountants whose services can be used by local governments in maintaining complete and standardised accounts.”
Observing that the grassroots democracy is the “cornerstone” of a vibrant and inclusive society, Murmu said, “India has large number of urban and rural local bodies, particularly at rural level 2,62,000 such bodies exist. This third tier of governance is dealing with many schemes/projects concerning SDGs. Union Finance Commissions are providing direct devolution of around 4.2% of the total divisible pool.”
“It is in this context, that SAI India is committed to strengthening the audit of local governments. From our experience, we find the functioning of local governments different from that of the federal and provincial governments in India in terms of their dependence for functions, funds, and functionaries on the two higher tiers. This reality calls for an ‘out-of-the-box’ audit approach,” Murmu said.
He said, “in an increasingly interconnected world, audit methodologies must evolve to keep pace with the complexities of modern governance.”
[ The Indian Express]
