The International Centre For Audit Of Local
Governance – ECONOMY
News: Comptroller
and Auditor General (CAG) of India Girish Chandra Murmu inaugurated the
International Centre for Audit of Local Governance (iCAL) in Rajkot
Whats in the news?
iCAL Inauguration:
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Girish Chandra Murmu
inaugurated the International Centre for Audit of Local Governance (iCAL) in
Rajkot on July 18.
First institute in India to set global standards for auditing local
governance bodies.
iCAL Functions:
- Collaborative
platform for policymakers, administrators, and auditors linked with local
governments.
- Enhances
independence of local government auditors for better financial performance
assessment, service delivery, and data reporting.
- Centre
of excellence for capacity building and training of local government
auditors.
- Acts
as a knowledge centre and think tank for governance issues at grassroots
levels.
Local Governance Audit in India:
- Three-tier
governance structure: Union, state, and local bodies (urban and rural).
- Local
bodies: Panchayati Raj Institutes (PRIs) in rural areas and Urban Local
Bodies (ULBs) in urban areas.
- Responsibility
of maintaining accounts lies with local bodies; state governments have
Examiner of Local Fund Accounts (ELFA) or Director of Local Fund Accounts
(DLFA) for auditing.
- CAG
audits all funds and provides technical guidance and support to ELFA/DLFA.
Need for iCAL:
- India
has 2.5 lakh panchayats and 8,000 ULBs.
- Importance
of promoting global good practices in local government auditing.
- Concerns
over proper auditing and utilization of funds flowing to local bodies.
- 2022
RBI report highlighted inefficiencies due to lack of use of audited
financial statements for balance sheet and cash flow management.
- Need
for institutionalised collaboration among supreme audit institutions
(SAIs) and international audit organizations.
Sources:
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/centre-audit-local-governance-gujarat-9460978/