Full Form of CAG : Comptroller and Auditor General
CAG Full Form name is Comptroller and Auditor General of India. This refers to the chief auditor of expenses incurred by the Indian government as demonstrated by its own constitution. Responsibilities include auditing various government transactions such as deposits, remittances, debt transactions, and manufacturing of goods; and commercial activities. The CAG is also responsible for reviewing all stock accounts and receipts related to the government of India.
CAG also maintains records related to profit/loss accounts and balance sheets of the government. It also aims to assure the government and people about the high-quality auditing. CAG is an extremely important position in the Indian government. The Prime Minister of India makes the recommendations for the position of CAG. On the other hand, a candidate can be removed from CAG through impeachment process.
CAG Full Form – Additional Information
The Constitution of India has established authority for auditing all expenditure and receipts of the Central as well as the state governments, including the government-financed authorities and bodies. This body is known as the CAG or the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The CAG is also responsible for functioning as an external auditor of the corporations owned by the Government. It also helps by conducting additional audits of those non-insurance and non-banking companies in which a minimum of fifty percent of the equity shares is in control of the union government.
This fact is also true for the existing state’s subsidiary companies. The COPUs or Committees on Public Undertakings and PACs or Public Accounts Committees takes the CAG reports into consideration. Both of them are specialized committees that function in the state legislatures and the Indian Parliament. The head position of the Indian Accounts and Audit Department is in the hands of CAG. Its officers manage the affairs of this department. It has employed nearly fifty-eight thousand people all over the nation.
Appointment of CAG : CAG Meaning
The Indian President is responsible for appointing the CAG, after the Prime Minister’s recommendation. While getting appointed to this position, he or she needs to take an affirmation or oath before the Indian President. In the past years, the presence of CAG can frequently be seen in the media due to the exposure of the mega corruption by it. Some of the examples of the corruption reported by it include scam in Commonwealth games, allocation of the 2G spectrum and other additional scams.
The Indian Parliament determines the salary of the CAG along with its other services through an act passed in the year 1971. This act is called the CAG Act. According to this Act, the salary of the CAG is equal to that of the Cabinet Secretary. There can be no variation to the CAG’s disadvantage in his or her rights or payments in respect of the retirement age, pension or leave of absence the appointment. After his or her tenure gets over, the CAG cannot hold any office under the central government or any of the state government. This condition ensures that the CAG’s independence remains intact.
As of the year 2006, the CAG’s salary was ninety thousand rupees. The Parliament House is the only body that has the right of removing CAG if his or her incapacity or misbehavior is proved. The retirement age of this post is sixty-five years. If he or she attains this age, then the person needs to vacate the position even if the term period, which is six years, is not complete.
IAAS – Indian Audit and Accounts Services
The Constitution provides an independent office to the CAG. This office is called the IAAS or the Indian Audit and Accounts Services. Being the head of this office, he or she is required to uphold the Parliament’s laws for safeguarding the public exchequer’s interests. As discussed in the introduction, the CAG is responsible for auditing all accounts of the Government, along with all expenditure that occurs from the government’s consolidated fund. These consists of transactions, which are related to trading, deposits, manufacturing, remittances, and debt; stock accounts and receipts; balance sheets that are under the control of the governors or the President; accounts of profit and loss. It also helps in auditing the accounts’ books of the companies owned by the Government, by the companies act.
The CAG also executes the compliance and performance audits of numerous departments and functions of the government. The UN has appointed the CAG as an external auditor of 2 organizations. These include WFP or World Food Program, WIPO or World Intellectual Property Organization and IAEA or International Atomic Energy Agency based in Vienna.
Prominent CAG reports
The following discusses some of the important reports presented by the CAG.
Allocation of 2G Spectrum
A huge controversy arose as a result of the release of the CAG report on the 2G Spectrum Allocation. According to this report, there was an estimation of nearly twenty-six billion dollars possible loss by the UPA Government. According to the CBI, in the year 2011, there was a loss of more than four billion dollars.
Allocation of coal mines
The political parties, as well as media, reacted massively on the report issued by the CAG on the distribution of the coal mines. According to this report, the competitive bidding process can be used by the Government for allocation coal mines, but it does not do so. Due to this, less amount of fee is paid by the private firms and PSEs. According to the report drafted by the CAG, nearly one hundred and sixty billion dollars were gained by allocates due to the payment of less amount of fees.
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