This Perspective Plan outlines the goals that the Indian Audit and Accounts Department will pursue to realise the Vision and Mission of the Department. It defines the broad parameters for medium term progress of the Department, specifies the major milestones and identifies the supervisors and managers responsible for ensuring that each of the goals is achieved. All the Functional Wings will draw up their annual programmes in sync with the overall structure laid down in this Perspective Plan and commit resources for specific activities relating to these programmes.
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Table of
Contents
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1
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Audit..............................................................................................................................
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5
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1.1
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Compliance
Audit ...................................................................................................
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5
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1.2
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Financial
Audit
.......................................................................................................
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8
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1.3
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Performance
Audit................................................................................................
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10
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1.3.1 Strategic Audit Plan for
IAAD...........................................................................
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1.3.2 Audit Plan for Performance Audits
................................................................
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11
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1.4
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Audit of
Local
Bodies...........................................................................................
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12
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1.5
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Audit
ofGreenfield Areas.....................................................................................
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14
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2
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Audit
Methodologies and
Practices..............................................................................
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16
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2.1
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Audit
Mandate......................................................................................................
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18
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2.2
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Audit
Planning and Risk Assessment
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19
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2.3
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Integration
of Audit
Efforts...................................................................................
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20
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2.4
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Stakeholder
Interaction
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21
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2.5
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Reporting..............................................................................................................
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22
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2.6
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Communication
and Public
Relations....................................................................
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22
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3
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Accounts
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23
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4
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Entitlements
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25
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5
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Information
Systems....................................................................................................
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26
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6
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Human
Resources........................................................................................................
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28
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6.1
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Recruitment
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30
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6.2
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Career
progression................................................................................................
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31
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6.3
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Training
and Capacity
Building.............................................................................
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31
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Preface
This Perspective Plan outlines the goals that the Indian
Audit and Accounts Department will pursue to realise the Vision and Mission of
the Department. It defines the broad parameters for medium term progress of the
Department, specifies the major milestones and identifies the supervisors and
managers responsible for ensuring that each of the goals is achieved. All the
Functional Wings will draw up their annual programmes in sync with the overall
structure laid down in this Perspective Plan and commit resources for specific
activities relating to these programmes.
Page | 3
Vision of
SAI India
We strive to be a global leader
and initiator of national and international best practices in public sector
auditing and accounting, and renowned for independent, reliable, balanced and
timely reporting on public finance and governance.
Mission of
SAI India
As mandated by the Constitution
of India, we promote accountability, transparency and good governance through
high quality auditing and accounting and provide independent assurance to our
primary stakeholders – the Legislature, the Executive and the Public – that
public funds are being used properly, and for the intended purposes.
Our Core
Values
ü Independence
ü Objectivity
ü Integrity
ü Credibility
ü Professional
Excellence
ü Transparency
ü Innovation
ü Knowledgecentric
organization
ü Constructive
Approach
1
Audit
The Indian Audit and Accounts
Department has been an active stakeholder in promoting transparency,
accountability and good governance though its oversight function over the
financial and related transactions of the Government and providing inputs to
the Government on the status of financial and programme management viz.
issues relating to fraud, waste and noncompliance with prescribed rules and
regulations in Governmental transactions and the economy, efficiency and
effectiveness of implementation of developmental programmes.
In keeping with our new Mission, we need to provide
assurance to our primary stakeholders that public funds are being used properly
and for the intended purpose. This would involve moving away from reporting
isolated and individual instances of irregularities, towards bringing out weaknesses
in the control environment, analysing key risks and challenges to
projects/schemes/programmes and suggesting suitable and timely recommendations
for good governance.
Towards this end, our
challenges and goals for audit, to be achieved over the next five years, are
detailed below.
1.1
Compliance Audit
Challenges
In terms of the need for
qualitative improvement, compliance audit is perhaps our most critical area.
Compliance audit has far too often been perceived, both within and outside the
Department, as following a “needleinthehaystack” approach with undue
attention being paid to minor pay/TA and other related issues. This has two
implications – (a) we are perceived as gunning for individuals at a personal
level and (b) more importantly, audit effort and resources allocated to such
audits are not available for more significant and material issues like
execution of high value projects and core operational activities.
While we identify the
departments/areas for audit based on high, medium and low risk, we do not
generally carry out any such exercise to determine the extent of risk within an
audit area. For instance, we may select a DDO, whose office is categorised as
‘high risk’ for audit, but within that DDO’s office, we do not assess the risk
level of various transactions or operational areas. At the unit (auditee)
level, we do not even determine the scope and coverage ofaudit, sample size or
the mode of sample selection.
Page | 5
Our current approach to
transaction audit and the excessive focus on establishment audit has come in
for debate and discussion at various levels, both within and outside the
Department. The common response to such perceptions is that transaction audit
is our bread and butter audit and it provides a deterrent effect on the
auditees. While it is possible that most of the audit observations come from
establishment audit, these audits do take away the focus from more serious
issues relating to development and governance and the resources allocated to
audits of this nature deprive attention to other sectors, where we can make a
difference to good governance. Establishment audit should certainly not be
ignored but it can be carried out on thematic basis so as to provide assurance
(could be either positive or negative) to the stakeholders, rather than as
isolated instances, except in case of individual fraud.
If we are to be perceived as
making a difference to governance, we need to move away from our traditional
approach of reporting a few audit paragraphs without providing any assurance on
the rest of the activities of the Ministries/Departments of Government, towards
an assurance based approach as outlined in our Mission. For this purpose, we
need to:
Goals
i.
Define the objective of compliance
audit as providing overall assurance on governance and control processes in
Ministries/ Departments/ entities (rather than highlighting isolated
irregularities arising from“test check”)
ii.
In line with the redefined
objective, reorient our compliance audit approach from coverage of DDOs to
CCObased, District/ Constituencycentric and/or themebased approach.
iii.
Gain internal assurance about our
audit processes and procedures through detailed unit level audit planning,
scoping the work and documentation of working papers
iv.
Revise our compliance audit
methodologies/ practices in line with the redefined objective and approach
v.
Optimise the allocation of audit resources for compliance
audit
vi.
Build capacities in domain specific
audits like power, irrigation, mining, aviation, telecom etc.
vii.
Upgrade our staff skills to meet the
redefined compliance audit objectives and approach.
Page | 6
Goal Manager: DG (Audit) and DGs/AGs/PDs
(Audit)
Roadmap:
a.
Chapter on Compliance Audit in MSO
(Audit) should be revised by June 2011; detailed audit checklists for common
areas of audit e.g. education, health etc. should be drawn up and fine tuned in
a phased manner by March 2012.
b.
Compliance Audit Chapters/Reports to
be tabled in 201112 should contain at least 50% thematic/CCO based or other
assurance based paragraphs. This should increase to 80% by 201213. Further, by
201213, at least 80% of the audit resources (party days) for compliance audits
should be devoted to thematic audits; only 20% or less of the available compliance
audit resources should be set aside for audit of individual DDOs.
c.
For works audit, which is one of our
major transaction audit areas, the focus should be on large projects based on
prioritisation rather than on audit of individual divisions; works audit should
invariably combine document scrutiny with physical inspection and assessment of
controls – both financial and operational controls.
d.
Audit Plans for 201112 for
individual Audit Offices should provide for unit level audit planning for 50% of
the compliance audits; this should result in a drastic reduction in the ‘number
of units’ planned for audit during the year. By 201213, this should be
increased to 80% of the audits.
e.
The process of audit planning should
be reviewed and standardised working papers should be prescribed by June 2011.
All Audit offices should ensure that working papers are maintained to reflect
the audit planning as well as execution process by December 2011. For this
purpose, the department should also select/design and implement audit
automation software (on the lines of TeamMate1).
f.
The department should create a pool
of knowledge resource persons (KRPs) for specific domains cutting across office
boundaries by March 2011. This should be complemented by a second level KRPs in
each Audit Office for relevant domain, who should be groomed with appropriate
skills in that domain by June 2012.
1 Considering
that TeamMate is an expensive proprietary software and is designed primarily
for financial audit of accrual based accounts, we may need to design our own
software which will provide for customised checklists for compliance audits of
different departments.
Page | 7
g.
All the Audit offices should chalk
out plans in coordination with RTIs/auditee training institutes/sector specialists
and other premier training institutes, to organise at least two trainings in a
year in the selected domain to build capacities in that domain by 2012.
1.2
Financial Audit
Challenges
There are two types of
financial audit carried out by us – relating to the (a) accounts of the
PSUs/Autonomous Bodies and (b) Government accounts. We have brought out the
Financial Attest Audit Manual recently and have also been endeavouring to
formulate our Government and Public Sector Accounting Standards in line with
international standards.
Our focus on financial audit,
especially with regard to Government accounts, has been rather inadequate. The
emphasis here has generally been, on arithmetical accuracy and completeness in
terms of compliance with Headquarters instructions, rather than on audit and
analysis of the underlying data. We have revised the Chapter – I of the Civil
Audit Report with a lot of valuable additional information and have brought it
out as a standalone volume since 2009. We have also done that with Railway
finances with effect from 200910 accounts. However, we have not changed the
manner of audit of the Accounts. Not too many personnel are familiar with the
way Finance and Appropriation Accounts are prepared, to be able to appreciate,
understand and analyse them from an audit perspective. We need to build
capacities and acquire domain knowledge in this regard.
A significant number of PSUs
have automated their financial accounting system. However, we continue to carry
out a manual audit of these accounts, without giving any assurance about the
adequacy of the internal controls in place to take care of the risks and
vulnerabilities of these systems to such risks. While it is the responsibility
of the Management/executive to put in place adequate controls, we should gain
assurance that these controls are functioning as envisaged, to be able to
express an opinion on the accounts compiled from such systems. Towards the goal
of improving our financial audit, we need to:
Goals
i.
Reorient our financial audit
approach towards providing assurance on the reliability of the periodic
financial statements of Governments and entities within our audit jurisdiction
Page | 8
ii.
Revise our financial audit
procedures in line with international best practices in terms of sampling, risk
assessment, controls evaluation, and materiality
iii.
Increase the allocation of audit
resources for financial audit of state commercial undertakings and autonomous
bodies.
iv.
Integrate CAP/ CASS audit and audit
of VLC data with audit of Government financial statements, and also ensure
linkages between financial and compliance audit
v.
Reorient our commercial audit of
PSUs (under Section 619 (4)) to meet the challenges arising out of the
forthcoming move to IFRS from 2011 onwards
i.
Upgrade our staff skills to meet the redefined financial
audit approach.
ii.
Evolve a formal platform for
engaging with audit firms in the private sector to exchange
information/experience about the best practices in audit of various industries.
Goal Supervisor: All DAIs and ADAIs
Goal Manager: DG (Audit) and DGs/AGs/PDs (Audit)
Roadmap:
a. For audit
of Finance and Appropriation Accounts from 201011 onwards (i.e. from April
2011 onwards), a detailed financial attest audit plan should be prepared by all
the PAGs/AGs (Civil Audit), identifying the key areas in important
Appropriations/ Finance Account statements. This financial attest audit plan
should also integrate CAP/CASS audit, analysis of VLC data and scrutiny of
Finance and Appropriation accounts at various stages.
b. Include a
specific section in the standalone report on State, Central and Railway
Finances from the accounts for 201011 onwards, on the adequacy and
effectiveness of internal controls affecting the accuracy and reliability of
financial statements. This should cover aspects like timeliness of rendition of
accounts, reconciliation etc. The results of Treasury Inspection (our key tool
for assessing controls at the primary accounting unit) should feed in to this
section.
c.
Audit automation software should be
selected/designed and implemented in time for the financial audit of accounts
for 201112.
d.
Checklists for all the IFR Standards
should be prepared by December 2010 and all the commercial audit staff should
be trained in these by March 2011.
Page | 9
e.
Carry out a pilot study by June 2011
on how to leverage the information and experience of private sector audit firms
in our certification audit.
1.3
Performance Audit
Challenges
We have been evaluating various
socioeconomic developmental programmes, especially the flagship schemes of the
Government individually as PA reviews. If, as the SAI, we are to identify
strategic risks at the Government level, then there is a need for a centrally
co ordinated strategic plan to conduct audit evaluations on a longterm cycle
of the identified areas in each sector. This would necessarily have to be
supplemented by plans for audit of areas of State/ local importance, which
would be derived from State Plan schemes, local media, legislative and public
perception etc. The Strategic Audit Plan prepared in 2003 covered the period
200207 to be coterminus with the Tenth Five Year Plan. It analysed all the
issues identified by the Tenth Plan as key for development of various sectors
during the Plan period and formulated strategies for audit of those areas.
Almost all the areas/issues identified in that Audit Plan have been covered
during the last five years and it is time to prepare another Strategic Plan
after proper risk assessment, in line with the priorities identified by the
Eleventh Plan to provide a clear focus and direction to our audit efforts in
the next five years. It is estimated that about 90 per cent of the total Plan
outlay is consumed by no more than 10 to 15 programmes across all sectors.
These programmes need to be constantly on our radar.
There are however, important
sectors with key nonplan activities (e.g. fertilizer and petroleum products
subsidies) which do not directly fit into the plan framework. Fiscal issues,
which do not form part of the Planning Commission’s remit, need to be covered,
including transfers through the Finance Commission. Moreover, the defence
sector and the complete receipts side (tax and nontax receipts) also need to
be covered in our Strategic Audit Plan, apart from the key areas of national
significance identified by the Eleventh Plan and programmes that engage the
attention of public, media, legislators and policy makers.
We could also consider
identifying the strategic risks for each sector and those that cut across sectors
at the end of the annual audit cycle and report to the Governments – both
Central and State with clear and logical explanations as to why we have
considered these as high risk, and what corrective action needs to be initiated
by the Government in order to mitigate these risks.
Page | 10
For example,
a host of socioeconomic developmental programmes target beneficiaries based on
their BPL (Below Poverty Line) status. The identification of an individual
beneficiary as a BPL household is a critical element, which significantly
affects their entitlement to various schemes (housing, healthcare, education,
food distribution, credit, employment etc.). Our audit evaluations have also,
from time to time, thrown up deficiencies in the identification process – e.g.
inclusion of higher income households, Government servants in the BPL list etc.
However, the process of identification/ updation of BPL families has not
received the required attention of Governments. Further, this process has also
not been reviewed separately in audit, as it does not have separate financial
materiality, nor is it a specific scheme or a programme in itself.
We need to dovetail our
performance audits of individual schemes in a sector to provide a holistic
perspective on each sector to facilitate good governance and right decision
making by policy makers. We also need to improve our domain knowledge of
various sectors and strengthen and consolidate the progress that has been made
so far in our performance audit. For this purpose, we need to:
Goals
1.3.1 Audit Plan for Performance Audits
i.
Prepare and implement a performance
audit plan (for selection of performance audit themes), as a subset of the
Strategic Audit Plan of the department, cutting across functional and
geographical boundaries
ii.
Ensure engagement with all the
stakeholders in the process of planning and execution of performance audits
iii.
Ensure wider use of new
methodologies/ techniques for evidence gathering (field visits/ inspections,
photographic evidence, beneficiary surveys/ interviews, and other social audit
techniques) and reporting (user friendly presentation, use of pamphlets, CD
brochures etc.)
iv.
Synergise our performance audit
efforts in social sector with those of social audit groups and civil society
organisations.
v.
Bring out standalone reports
wherever feasible, to focus the attention of the stakeholders.
Page | 11
vi.
Substantially increase the
allocation of audit resources to performance audit on a long term basis, by
correspondingly reducing the allocation for compliance audit (except for
thematic audits).
Goal Supervisor: All DAIs and ADAIs
Goal Manager: DGs/AGs/PDs (Audit) &
Functional wings in Hdqrs
Roadmap:
a.
See the Roadmap under Strategic
Audit Plan with regard to performance audit plan and interaction with
stakeholders.
b.
With effect from Audit Plan 201112
onwards, synergise our audit efforts in social sector with those of social
audit groups and civil society organisations
c.
Every Audit Office should endeavour
to bring out at least one Study Report per year from 2011 onwards in addition
to the regular audit report.
1.4
Audit of Local Bodies
Challenges
Increasingly, many social
sector programmes are being implemented by the Government through Panchayati
Raj institutions (PRIs). PRIs at the Block and Gram Panchayat levels are
receiving enormous funds which are often beyond their financial, operational
and administrative capacity to handle. On the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) side,
mega programmes like JNNURM2
are similarly ensuring huge devolution of funds. In fact, the 13th
Finance Commission has recommended allocation of grants to local bodies on a
basis which mimics the allocation of resources to State Governments.
Considering this paradigm shift in funding and governance pattern, we need to
gear ourselves up to play the role envisaged by the policy makers as a ‘mentor’
as well as a mechanism for ensuring accountability for public expenditure on
social sector involving livelihood, social amenities, utilities and basic
infrastructure, among others. This involves strengthening our institutional
framework for conducting audit of urban and rural local bodies.
Currently, the staff available for audit of PRIs and ULBs is
extremely inadequate to cope with the expectations of our stakeholders or
discharge the role set by the department for itself
2 Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
Page | 12
in this
area. While there is huge transfer of funds to the PRIs for implementation of
developmental programmes, there is no clarity both within IAAD as well as the
auditee units, as to who should be auditing these programmes – whether it
should be the civil audit wing or the LB wing. Since the LB wing has confined
itself to standardising the accounting formats, providing technical guidance
and carrying out technical inspections, audit of public expenditure at the
grass root level is not getting the attention that is required. We need to
overcome this predicament if we are to respond to decentralised governance
adequately.
Goals
i.
Determine the actual staff strength
required for auditing the local bodies and provide for it expeditiously.
ii.
Integrate LB audit with civil audit,
so as to ensure proper audit of centrally funded schemes at grass root level
iii.
Continue to collaborate with
Ministries of Panchayati Raj, Urban Development and Finance, as also with the
State Governments, to devise user friendly accounting systems and accounts
based MIS.
iv.
Improve the quality of existing LB/
PRI audit, where it is with CAG (Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal)
v.
Improve the quality of our financial
audit by tracing funds from GoI to States/ States to Districts/Districts to
Blocks/ Blocks to GPs/ ULBs etc.
Goal Supervisor: DAI (LB)
Goal Manager: DG (LB)
Roadmap:
a.
Work out the staff requirement for
LB wing by December 2010 and initiate recruitment process, so as to have the
staff in place by March 2012 (including training).
b.
Carry out an integrated audit of at
least two social sector schemes (preferably NREGA and NRHM) on a pilot basis by
March 2011 involving LB audit and civil audit wings and replicate it across the
department by September 2011. As part of this integrated audit effort, trace
the funds from GoI to States/ States to Districts/Districts to Blocks/ Blocks
to GPs.
Page | 13
c. Prepare
specific checklists by March 2011 for audit of PRIs/ULBs where CAG is the sole
auditor and superimposed audit of the work done by Chartered Accountants etc.
to gain assurance about internal controls in place in the PRIs/ULBs
d.
Review the quality of existing LB/
PRI audit in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, where CAG is the sole auditor,
by March 2011 and put in place adequate mechanism by June 2011 to gain
assurance about audit quality in these States in LB/PRI audit.
1.5
Audit of Greenfield Areas
Challenges
We have, over the years, gained sufficient expertise and
knowledge in various traditional areas of audit. It is time now, to plan for
audit of greenfield areas i.e. emerging areas of audit, where we are still in
the learning process. These are the areas where there is substantial investment
and change in the structure of management and governance. It therefore
necessitates a paradigm shift in audit approach as well as audit methodologies
and techniques. Some of the greenfield areas for audit are Publicprivate
partnership projects (PPP), egovernance projects, environment audit, social
audit, audit of regulatory bodies etc.
Of late, Government of India
and increasingly State Governments, have been going in for publicprivate
partnerships for bringing in the much needed investment into infrastructure,
like roads, airports, ports, railways, power etc. PPP projects are considered
to be projects between the private and public sector based on legally
enforceable contracts or concession agreements for delivering services,
historically provided by the public sector. Payment for the services can be
made either through userfinanced charges or payments by the Government. PPPs
involve allocation of risks between the private and public sectors, depending
on which party is in the best position to manage a specific risk.
Audit of such PPP ventures
would have to go beyond the current forms of auditing to address issues like
revenue and risk sharing, choice of the PPP model, scope for innovation, tariff
setting, accounting treatment and project/ contract management. The guidelines
for audit of PPP have already been formulated and circulated to allthe field
offices.
Egovernance refers to the
delivery of Governmental services electronically primarily to its citizens
and secondly, other clients within the Government. This is a governance process
in which Information and Communications Technology (ICT) plays a significant
role. E governance seeks to transform the governance process, to improve the
delivery of services to
Page | 14
The Government of India
formulated an EGovernance National Action Plan 20032007 to give impetus to
egovernance to promote long term growth, and facilitate high quality and high
speed services to its citizens. Some of the services that are currently being
provided by the Central Government/State Governments through electronic means
include details of land records, treasury transactions, digital mandis, utility
payments, eSeva/ electronic service delivery etc. Many other areas like
Customs and Central Excise, postal services, registrations, healthcare,
entertainment and various other services and administrative functions of the
Government are being automated and information is being provided to the
citizens through internet and mobile technologies.
The initiatives of both the
Central and the States Governments in this regard have posed new challenges to
the auditors. We need to understand the working of not just our area of focus,
but also the linkages between the different departments involved in
egovernance, interfaces between different systems, interaction among different
agencies, expectations from different quarters etc.
Our Department has now gained
considerable experience and expertise in the field of IT audit, and we have
reviewed a few egovernance projects. However, our efforts in the audit of
egovernance need to keep pace with the explosive growth in eGovernance
projects. Further, with many of our traditional audit areas being automated
through egovernance, there is an urgent need to change our conventional audit
methodologies in these areas.
Social audit is increasingly
becoming popular as it seeks to make the audit process more transparent and
take audit findings to a wider public domain of stakeholders, i.e. users of the
Government schemes, services and utilities. The spread of social audit has been
increasing due to the steady shift in devolution of Central funds and functions
relating to socio economic schemes to the local tiers of Government like PRIs,
ULBs and other special purpose agencies set up by the Government for
implementation of specific schemes like NRHM, SSA etc. Discussions were held
with the stakeholders and other opinion makers active in social audit;
guidelines have been drawn up for synergising and mainstreaming social audit
with public audit and circulated to all the offices.
SAI India has been focusing on environment related issues
vigorously and has been conducting a number of international training
programmes and workshops to create
Page | 15
awareness on
this issue and conducting performance audit of various environment related
projects and concerns. We have a field office dealing specifically with
environment audit and an RTI designated as a Centre of Excellence in this area.
Initiatives are afoot for creating international training facilities for
environment very soon. We need to build on this initiative and expertise by
mainstreaming environment audit in to our regular audit and bring out, not only
the concerns relating directly to preservation and development of environment,
but also the environmental impact of various policies and programmes of the
Government. A manual on ‘Environment Audit’ will be available within the year
2010.
Goals
We have already initiated
action for developing our skills for audit of these and other emerging areas.
We need to follow suit with the other identified greenfield areas and build
capacities at various levels to face the relevant challenges in a time bound
manner.
Goal Supervisor: All DAIs and ADAIs
Goal Manager: DG (Audit)
2
Audit Methodologies and Practices
Challenges
Over the last few years, we
have breached new frontiers in terms of taking up audits in areas which were
hitherto not perceived to be part of our mandate. For example, we have made a
foray in to audit of PPP projects, private oil companies, private telecom
companies etc. at the specific request of the Government. However, these are
sporadic instances and not built in as part of our regular mandate. There have
also been instances where the field audit teams have been questioned about the
audit mandate.
Further, in keeping with the changing priorities of the
Government, huge funds are being devolved to the local self governing
institutions like ULBs/PRIs and other special purpose agencies, as mentioned in
paragraph 1.4. Our audit mandate with regard to these bodies is nebulous and
requires clarity. There are also a number of ‘funds’ which are being operated
outside the authority of Legislatures, although these receive budgetary support.
These are all outside the purview of audit as of now. In order to fulfil the
role envisaged by the Constitution makers and the role being assigned by
successive Governments to play an active part in ensuring transparency,
accountability and good governance, we need to strengthen our
Page | 16
mandate to
make it comprehensive and encompass all the activities which are currently
being taken up on request basis or where we would like to review the
programmes/schemes/activities in view of the involvement of tax payers’ money.
One of the important areas that
require attention is our audit planning process. While we do carry out a risk
assessment of the government departments/PSUs/other agencies/bodies based on
the auditee profile, expenditure incurred over the past three years and other
parameters, we also go by categorisation of auditee entities (A,B,C categories)
based on the norms relating to expenditure, fixed many years ago. There has
been an explosive growth in expenditure over the decades and it would not be
possible for us, given the time and resources available, to audit all the
auditable units over a cycle. Therefore, our risk assessment process needs to
be more stringent and we need to take a relook at the norms for categorisation
of the auditee units.
There have been changes the
world over in the way the SAIs plan their audits. Apart from risk assessment,
some countries have been consciously trying to take inputs from the public in
their audit planning process. A case in point is SAI, Korea, which invites
views from civil society while planning the audits and shares the results of
audit with the public. SAI, Korea notifies the citizens in advance, of the
scope and timing of planned audits, where the issues concern the citizens and
their inputs are considered in finalising the audit reports. A ‘Citizen’s Audit
Request System’ was introduced in 2001 to enable the citizens to request for
audits related to public sector institutions, where they perceive
corruption/malpractices that could undermine public interest, which has become
very popular with the citizens. These initiatives have also helped the SAI in
monitoring its own errant staff, apart from strengthening its oversight over
Government functioning. In keeping with our new Mission, where ‘Public’ has
been identified as one of the stakeholders of audit, we could consider
factoring the inputs of civil society/informed citizens in our audit planning
process.
One of the main strengths of
IA&AD is its comprehensive reach across multifarious Central and State
Departments, agencies and bodies, and its ability to trace funds down to the
last rupee. Our mandate is comprehensive (although there is a need for further
clarity and expansion as mentioned above), and we should not take a “tunnel
vision” approach to audit of various programmes of the Government. We need to
move towards an integrated audit to harness our experience and knowledge in
this regard to provide highlevel strategic inputs on a sectoral basis for
informed decision making by policy makers. There have been sporadic efforts to
carry out integrated audits but we need to, as a department, leverage the
unitary
Page | 17
nature of
audit in the Indian Constitution, and ensure integration of audit efforts
across functional wings, and Central/ State Audit Offices.
There has been better and more
formal interaction with the Executive in the form of entry and exit conferences
as part of our performance audit process. We need to continue with this
approach and interact with not only the Executive, but also with the other
stakeholders more frequently so that their output forms the input for our audit
planning process and our output forms part of their input for decision making
and policy formulation process.
While we have been appraising
almost all the flagship programmes of the Government and other important
financial and related transactions and making far reaching changes in the way
we carry out our work, our Audit Reports do not get the visibility that they
deserve and not many people seem to really read our Reports apart from the
concerned people in Government and Legislature. This is primarily on account of
two factors (a) our reports are not user friendly in terms of the format and
style (except for a few recent reports) and (b) we are media shy. It is time to
improve the quality and presentation of our reports and simultaneously make a
conscious effort to engage the media proactively to disseminate the content of
our reports.
We have been endeavouring to
improve and upgrade our audit methodologies constantly and have made good
progress with the targets set for ourselves in the Perspective Plan 200308. We
need to consolidate and further strengthen our audit methodologies, practices
and procedures as mentioned above, to keep pace with global best practices,
client expectations, and be a partner in governance process. Towards this end,
the following specific action is proposed with regard to the areas detailed in
the preceding paragraphs.
Goals
2.1
Audit Mandate
i.
Ensure comprehensive Legislative changes to the
reach/mandate of CAG’s audit
ii.
Pursue the initiatives taken for expanding the audit mandate
of CAG to fruition
iii.
Formulate specific timeframe in
consultation with the Government, for tabling Audit Reports in Parliament/State
Legislature
iv.
Declutter the Audit Wing in
Headquarters and strengthen the role of DG (Audit) to function more effectively
as the head of policy, planning and research activities,
Page | 18
Goal Supervisor: DAI
Goal Manager: DG (Audit)
Roadmap:
a.
Create a separate Strategic Planning
Unit headed by a DG/PD under DAI (Hdqrs) by December 2010 and entrust the work
relating to policy, planning, preparation of a Strategic Audit Plan for the
department, monitoring and followup of the relevant activities to this Unit.
DG (Audit) should be tasked with research and formulation/fine tuning of audit
methodologies and dissemination of best practices in various areas of audit
within the department.
2.2 Audit Planning and Risk Assessment
i.
Prepare a comprehensive Strategic
Audit Plan for the Department with appropriate linkages to the Eleventh Five
Year Plan and identify key focus areas for audit over the next three to five
years.
ii.
Ensure preparation of Strategic
Audit Plan for each Functional Wing /Field Office, dovetailed with the
Strategic Audit Plan of the Department
iii.
Ensure that the Annual Audit Plans
of every Functional Wing/Field Office flow from the concerned Strategic Audit
Plan of the Functional Wing/Field Office.
iv.
Institute a formal mechanism for
high level midterm review of progress visavis the Strategic Audit
Plan and determine the associated changes, if any, required in audit
methodologies and procedures to comply with the Strategic Audit Plan.
v.
In addition to macrolevel planning
(strategic and annual), ensure that detailed unit level audit planning is
embedded in the audit process, especially for compliance audits.
vi.
Ensure that audit planning (both
macrolevel planning and unit audit planning) involves a detailed, formal and
documented assessment of significant risk factors, while deciding themes and
audit scope/ coverage.
vii.
Use VLC data extensively for audit planning and risk
assessment.
viii.
Initiate exercises to conduct audit
evaluations of risk management (risk identification, assessment, and
mitigation) by selected Ministries/ Departments.
Page | 19
ix.
Increase focus on potential risks
(in addition to actual instances of fraud, irregularities etc.) as part of
audit reporting.
x.
Ensure preparation of Audit Plans
for individual audits, indicating scope of audit, sample size, timeframe and
resources; make available detailed audit guidelines and checklists for audit of
different functional areas to field audit teams.
xi.
Institutionalise the use of services
of experts/consultants for various areas of audit. Develop a database of all
the outside experts in various areas so that their technical inputs can be
obtained as and when required.
xii.
Set up a knowledge centre at
Headquarters to decide on the mode of selection of themes/topics for various
audits and provide guidance in execution and reporting the results of such
audits.
Goal Supervisor: All
DAIs and ADAIs
Goal Manager:
DGs/AGs/PDs (Audit)
Roadmap:
a. Prepare a
Strategic Audit Plan for the department, primarily covering the audit of
activities/schemes/programmes of GoI by March 2011. All the Functional wings in
Headquarters and field Audit offices should prepare a similar Plan by September
2011, covering the focus areas for audit over the ensuing three to five years.
Review these plans at periodical intervals (six monthly for GoI and annual for
other entities).
b. Hold
discussion with the stakeholders like representatives of Planning Commission,
PAC/COPU, Parliamentary Standing Committees, Auditee Ministries/Departments etc
on an annual basis (December preferably) to obtain their inputs in the audit
planning process.
c. Design and
implement a database of outside experts/consultants in various areas by June
2011 so as to tap their technical expertise as required.
2.3 Integration of Audit Efforts
i.
As a followup of the Strategic
Audit Plan, ensure coordinated selection of themes for performance and
compliance audit between different functional audit wings, especially:
a.
Central Civil/ Defence/ Railway Audit Offices and MABs
Page | 20
ii.
Ensure coordination between Central
Civil Audit Offices, State PAGs/ AGs (Civil Audit), State LB Audit Offices, and
A&E Offices to verify the chain of transfers and ultimate utilisation of GoI
funds transferred under Centrally Sponsored/ Central Sector Schemes.
iii.
Put in place an institutional
framework (organisational and procedural) for integrating audit efforts across
various functional areas and carry out the required structural changes both at
Headquarters and field level.
iv.
Institute a formal mechanism for
ensuring the success of such cooperation among various wings and handling of
cases of miscommunication/ inadequate cooperation.
Goal Supervisor: All DAIs and ADAIs
Goal Manager: DGs/AGs/PDs
Roadmap:
a.
Restructure the organisational set
up of the Department by December 2010 on the basis of Ministry/department
rather than on the type of entity, to ensure integration of audit efforts and
presentation of a sector based perspective to the Government.
2.4
Stakeholder Interaction
i.
Formally identify major stakeholders
in the audit planning and reporting process (e.g. PAC/ COPU members and other
legislators, Planning Commission/ Finance Commission, Ministry of Finance/
Finance Department, Other Ministries/ Departments, Civil Society Groups, Media
etc.), in addition to the Audit Advisory Boards.
ii.
Introduce mechanisms for formal
consultation with stakeholders (at least on an annual basis) for identifying
themes for performance/ compliance audits.
iii.
Explore opportunities for providing
support to selected Parliamentary Standing Committees along the same lines as
PAC/COPU.
iv.
Consolidate guidelines for
interaction with the auditee institutions in performance audits, and consider
guidelines for similar interactions during compliance audits.
Page | 21
v.
Channelize the information base
available with the citizens, NGOs, civil society organisations, government
servants etc. in to inputs for audit planning and evidence gathering purposes.
Goal Supervisor: All DAIs and ADAIs
Goal Manager: DGs/AGs/PDs (Audit)
2.5
Reporting
i.
Simplify the Audit Reports and make
them more reader friendly; give adequate attention to presentation of Audit
Reports in terms of formatting, use of colours, print quality etc.
ii.
Increase the use of CDs and booklets
for wider dissemination of significant audit findings
iii.
Besides reporting the results of
audit to Parliament/State Legislature in discharge of our Constitutional
responsibility, we could expand our reporting relationship to cover Study
Reports/Evaluation Studies/ Management Letter etc. to top management and policy
makers, where considered appropriate
iv.
Standardize the format of Inspection Reports of all the
Functional Wings
v.
Ensure that the quality of
Inspection Reports is on par with that of Audit Reports and place the
Inspection Reports in public domain
vi.
With the flow of funds from GoI
directly to the lowest level of governance, ensure translation of Inspection
Reports in to the local language and make them available to the PRIs. Also,
make these available in audiovisual format.
Goal Supervisor: All DAIs and ADAIs
Goal Manager: DG (Audit) and DGs/AGs/PDs (Audit
& Functional Wings in Hdqrs)
2.6
Communication and Public Relations
iii.
Move out of our ivory tower approach in dealing with the
public and media
iv.
Formulate an action plan for
engaging with the media in the long run rather than initiating action for
specific events alone.
v.
Engage media proactively to create
awareness among the general public and policy makers about the critical and
constructive role we play in facilitating good governance.
Page | 22
vii.
Consider buying media time to create
awareness among citizens about CAG’s reports and facilitate informed
discussions in this regard.
viii.
Give a freehand to the
DGs/PAGs/AGs/PDs at the field level to interact with media relating to audit
activities subject to broad framework rather than retaining control at
Headquarters for every detail.
Goal Supervisor: DAI
Goal Manager: DG
(Communication Policy)/Media Advisor
Roadmap:
a. Formulate a
proactive Media Policy and engage a PR Agency by October 2010 to enhance the
visibility of the Department and educate the public and the policy makers about
the role of audit and the significant findings emerging from CAG’s reports.
3 Accounts
Challenges
We have initiated a series of measures in the last few
years, to bring about reforms in Government Accounts and the way these are
presented. However, our focus in this regard has essentially been on timeliness
and transparency with very little attention being paid to the quality of
accounts itself. There are a number of Suspense Heads in Accounts where huge
amounts are reflected. There are also a large number of transactions/Heads,
which have been figuring in the Accounts for decades (some of them dating back
to partition of the country or earlier) without any change in the status of
amounts/no fresh transactions and/or have become redundant due to various
reasons. There are also a huge number of misclassifications every year.
Concerted action should be taken to review all such Heads/transactions, analyse
and clear/adjust to the correct Head of Account, and if not possible to
identify the correct Head or adjust the transaction, write off in consultation
with the State Government within a specific timeframe.
The Additional Central Assistance (ACA) given by the
Government of India to the States for various developmental programmes is in
the nature of grantsinaid and does not get reflected as funds allocated for
specific programmes under the relevant Head of Account. Consequently, neither
the Central nor the State Governments get the complete picture relating
Page | 23
to
allocation and expenditure for programmes at one place. There is also no
uniformity in booking expenditure under certain Heads among States due to lack
of uniformity in Object Heads and the expenditure on similar schemes is
reflected under different Heads across States. We need to bring about
uniformity in this regard so as to enable proper analysis and comparison of
expenditure under various Heads across States.
The VLC system has served a
very useful purpose for over a decade but with the changes in technology and
rapid obsolescence, the system is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain
and is not able to provide the functionality expected of it. Also, with all the
States going in for computerisation of treasuries, it is important to build
proper interface between the Treasury Accounting systems and VLC system so that
we can harness the advantages offered in this regard to compile/finalise the
State Government accounts more realtime.
We need to continue with our
endeavour to bring about reforms in Government Accounts with the ultimate
objective of enhancing the quality and transparency of Government accounting
while providing valuable inputs to State Governments in fiscal management and
expenditure control. Towards this end,
Goals
i.
Review the format of Finance Accounts & Appropriation
Accounts to:
a. Provide
appropriate level of reporting detailed vs. high level
b. Include
overall financial performance and cash flow
c. Aid in
moving to accrual based accounting
d. Provide more
analytical reasons for excesses & savings
e. Ensure all
the States include the mandated appendices to Finance Accounts
f. Facilitate
meaningful analysis of the accounts
ii.
Review accounting procedures/ chart of accounts to :
a.
Track expenditure incurred out of
Central grants right down to the grass roots level
b.
Bring about uniformity in object
heads; address the need for distinct heads for flagship programmes and distinct
capital heads
iii.
Facilitate the implementation of
accrual accounting and standardbased accounting system in consultation with
the stakeholders
iv.
Stabilize and upgrade the Voucher Level Computerisation
systems.
Page | 24
vi.
Digitise the vouchers in
consultation with the State Governments to enable comprehensive digitization of
accounting process.
vii.
Where epayment has been initiated
by the States, launch procedures to capture and compile accounts of such
receipts in a more detailed manner.
viii.
Set up a central data warehouse to
house the detailed accounting information of all the States with appropriate
data mining facilities.
Goal Supervisor: DAI
(AEC)
Goal Manager: DG (AEC)/
PAGs/AGs (A&E)
Roadmap:
a.
Identify the problems with the
existing VLC system by December 2010; prepare the specifications for a new
system by March 2011 and implement a new VLC system by December 2011. This
system should also provide an interface with the Treasury systems and capture
all the epayments/etransactions/egovernance initiatives of the State
Governments.
b.
In consultation with CGA (for Central
Accounts), revise the Chart of Accounts by April 2011 to bring about uniformity
in object heads and track expenditure to the last paisa.
c.
Pursue with the State Governments
vigorously so as to move towards accrual based accounting during the Eleventh
Plan.
d.
Plan for setting up a central data
warehouse with data mining functionality by December 2011 to capture all the
accounting information of the States and facilitate a meaningful analysis for
management reports/research/advice to the Government etc.
4 Entitlements
Challenges
With regard to entitlements, while we have been making all
efforts to ensure that pensionary benefits are released to the retired
employees expeditiously, there are often delays in authorising the benefits due
to delay in receipt of the requisite documents from the departmental officers.
We need to coordinate with the latter and ensure that they send us all the
necessary documents well before time to enable us to keep up our target dates.
There is
Page | 25
also a need to improve the
quality of services provided to the State Government employees in terms of
ensuring that all the deductions made from their pay bills towards GPF are
credited timely and correctly to their accounts.
Goals
i.
Define indicators for measuring
quality of service and measure actual service delivery at periodic intervals;
make our service delivery mechanism transparent to the public.
ii.
Ensure that the quality of service
relating to entitlements is at par with that of banking services as far as
facilitation of online transactions are concerned. Consider setting up
information kiosks for the purpose.
iii.
Strengthen our commitment to the
citizens through the Citizen’s Charter by adding additional areas like Gazetted
entitlements and maintenance and settlement of long term advances taken by
government servants
iv.
Have a helpline for registering
complaints against unsatisfactory service delivery by the department
v.
Improve interface with
DDOs/departments to obtain complete information relating to pension/GPF
documents
vi.
Hold Pension Adalats every month and interact more
proactively with the pensioners
vii.
Provide more online facilities to
access information and to contact the AG regarding GPF Advances and Gazetted
entitlements and update the website of the AG (A&E) on a regular basis.
Goal Supervisor: DAI
(AEC)
Goal Manager: DG
(AEC)/PAGs/AGs (A&E)
5 Information Systems
Challenges
IAAD was among the first Government Departments to make
extensive use of Information Technology (IT) for automating both its internal
processes, as well as audit of IT systems from late 1980s. SAI India has been
recognised among INTOSAI/ASOSAI and other SAIs as an expert in audit of
information systems and has been the Chair of the INTOSAI Working Group on IT
Audit for about 19 years. We need to leverage the recent developments in IT
Page | 26
primarily
in terms of web connectivity and make optimum use ofIT to (a) improve sharing
of knowledge across the organization for increased productivity, control and
transparency and
(b)
increase public interface and
visibility to the world (c) be a leader in audit of IT systems. For this
purpose,
Goals
i.
Identify more closely at the system
development stage with auditee in respect of mission critical systems of the
Government (both Central and State)/ PSUs by intimating the important controls
that are required to be built in, in the systems and state the audit
requirements in terms of ‘Audit Module’, ‘Exception Reports’ etc.
ii.
Identify major/core applications of
Government/PSUs where we need to acquire additional skills in auditing, and
plan for building capacities in such areas
iii.
Integrate our IT systems relating to audit plan and support
functions with VLC systems
iv.
Plan for IT systems within IAAD for
knowledge gathering for our traditional audit activities. Develop electronic
libraries to deliver domain specific support to our audit teams in terms of
making available all the relevant information about specific audit areas (like
mining, aviation, power etc) at one place.
v.
Develop knowledge networks to ensure
that not only audit related information but also audit department related
information, rules, procedures etc. are available and shared on line.
vi.
Make use of video conferencing and
other cost effective technologies to impart training and discuss work related
issues.
vii.
Disseminate the latest trends and
methods of carrying out IT audits through the intranet/news letters at regular
intervals
viii.
Use technology (eg. Netbooks or mini
notebooks) to reduce the time lag between the conduct of audit and submission
of IRs by the audit teams.
ix.
Develop and implement an IT
application for capturing all audit findings and action taken thereon, to be
made available on the intranet/internet.
x.
Improve the IAAD’s IT infrastructure
and develop/ upgrade applications for management and monitoring of audit and
administrative activities within field offices and CAG’s office.
Page | 27
xi.
Redesign the CAG’s website for
better presentation and search facilities, and ensure constant up dation of
content.
Goal Supervisor: DAI (AEC & LB)
Goal Manager: PD (IS & IT Audit)
Roadmap:
a. Ensure that
Audit Management System is in place by April 2011 so as to provide management
information on the activities of the Department at both macro as well as micro
level.
b.
Revamp the CAG’s web site by
November 2010 (in time for 150 year celebrations of the Department) to present
it as a one stop portal for complete information on the activities and products
of the Department with search and query facilities.
6
HumanResources
Challenges
HR is an important area of
focus to enable us to convert our plans mentioned above in to action. We need
to transform this function from one of cadre control, to development of human
resources and formulate human resources development policies and procedures to
attract and retain the best to IAAD fold.
Over the years, audit function
has moved gradually from one where there was contribution from the Auditors
level in field audit and the Audit Officer was required to supervise their
work, to one where the Assistant Audit Officer and Audit Officer do the actual
field audit under the supervision of Group Officer and at times AG/PD,
depending on the significance of the area being audited. With the depletion in
the number of staff and officers and increase in the areas and expenditure to
be audited, it is becoming increasingly difficult to fulfil the expectations of
the stakeholders and adhere to the benchmarks and standards of quality of audit
set for ourselves.
Even with a risk based audit
planning where we focus our attention on essentially the key areas, we are
having to juggle the few quality staff available and the burden of supervising
about ten teams or more and ensuring good quality Inspection Reports and Audit
Reports on the Group Officers (due to severe shortage of Group Officers, a
majority of Group Officers have been holding additional charge) and AGs/PDs is
enormous. With the benchmark for
Page | 28
promotion to
IA&AS being merely ‘Good’, on one hand, we do not always get Group Officers
of high calibre, and on the other hand, the aspirations of relatively young and
high calibre Group ‘B’ officers are not met.
We need to be more circumspect while allocating portfolios
to officers promoted from Group ‘B’ cadre. Often they are posted to an
office/area of work, where they have never been exposed to during their 2530
odd years of service. For instance, Group ‘B’ officers promoted to IA&AS
from A&E stream are posted to Audit and those from Audit stream are posted
to A&E stream. This would not help either the officer concerned, nor does
it improve the productivity of the office concerned.
The Section Officers Grade
examination mostly tests the candidates on ‘FRSR’ related knowledge and there
isn’t enough emphasis on practical field level skills. Further, the newly
recruited AAOs do not always get exposure to field level audit at initial
stages to hone their skills and despite the shortage in this cadre, we tend to
demote them in case they are unable to clear the exams within the given time.
Apart from the other factors, this is one of the reasons for the high attrition
rate in directly recruited AAOs. While it is important to ensure quality staff,
it is also important to groom the new recruits and provide the right
orientation to ensure that their services are available in the long run.
Despite the emphasis on training and career progression on
paper, we have a vast pool of ‘trainees’ who are, quite often than not, the
ones deputed for any and every training at RTIs, since the really good staff
‘cannot’ ostensibly, be spared. The training requirements of IA&AS officers
also needs to be planned and intimated to them well on time, so as to avoid
last minute cancellations due to exigencies of work. Career progression plans
need to be in place to ensure that officers and staff are trained as per the
requirements of work and not on availability basis.
The following course of action
is proposed to dovetail the HR function with the professional development of
the human resources, which are our greatest asset.
Goals
Page | 29
i.
Ensure availability of adequate
number of IAAS officers in the Department through initial induction, lateral
entry and promotion (both fast track and when due), especially in view of the
increased responsibilities cast on IAAD and the pivotal role of Group Officers
in leading critical audit assignments.
ii.
For promotion to IA&AS, ensure
the prescription of appropriate criteria to meet the demanding requirements of
IA&AS, so that the aspirations of bright and relatively younger officers in
Group ‘B’ cadre are fulfilled.
iii.
Ensure requisite quality and number
of officers is available, keeping in view the suggested reoriented approach
for financial and compliance audits and renewed thrust on performance audits.
iv.
Expedite the implementation of the
recommendations of the committee on staff norms, where already accepted.
v.
Ensure stability in the tenure of officers in a post,
especially at the PAG/AG level.
vi.
Reorient the SOGE to meet the
requirements of work as detailed in the section on ‘Audit’.
Goal Supervisor: DAI
Goal Manager: AC (P) /PD (Staff)
Roadmap:
a.
Revamp the Recruitment Rules for
induction to IA&AS by March 2011 and provide for 60% direct recruitment,
20% promotion and 20% fast track promotion through examination and track
record.
b.
Ensure, in consultation with the
Central Government, that only the candidates fulfilling the minimum benchmark
of ‘very good’ are promoted to IA&AS with effect from 2011.
c.
Recruit/promote at least double the
current number of Group Officers by June 2011 to facilitate adequate planning
and supervision of audit work.
d.
Revise the staffing norms by March
2011 and ensure that staff is provided to offices based on work load.
Page | 30
i.
Draw up career progression plans for
individuals in terms of timeframe for upward mobility and area/field of
specialization, places of posting, long term training needs, special
assignments and secondment of services to other departments/organizations.
ii.
Transform the present system of
‘appraising’ the performance of officers and staff to a system of ‘managing’
the performance; this would involve changing the present ACR system keeping in
view the ARC’s recommendations, to enable a two way consultative process –
promote growth and learning and recognising that capacity building and
individual performance improvement leads to better achievement of
organisational goals.
iii.
Ensure appropriate incentives are
given to the cream of Group ‘B’ cadre so as to motivate them to realise their
full potential and improve the overall productivity of the Department.
iv.
In case the officers promoted from
Group ‘B’ cadre to IA&AS have over ten years to go before retirement, they
may be posted to any stream of work like the directly recruited IA&AS
officers. If not, they may be posted to the area of work with which they are
familiar.
Goal Supervisor: DAI
Goal Manager: AC (P) /PD (Staff)
6.3
Training and Capacity Building
Develop
the capacity and skills of personnel to keep pace with the changes in
functioning of
Government
and expectations from IAAD:
i.
Consolidate and upgrade training
infrastructure at RTIs/RTCs and other training establishments; strengthen
inhouse training infrastructure
ii.
Provide impetus to research
activities; identify specific individuals/office/RTIs for carrying out research
in selected areas of audit with clear timelines for completion of research work
iii.
Ensure RTIs that have been
designated as Centres of Excellence, develop standardised courseware in the
identified subject/area and devolve the responsibility of disseminating that domainspecific
knowledge within IAAD to that RTI
Page | 31
iv.
Take help of auditee entities/sector
specific training institutes for improving our domain knowledge through
training courses/ workshops and seminars/ talks.
v.
Use services of consultants and eminent
persons to build capacities in new and emerging areas of audit
vi.
Depute officers and staff at various
levels for specialised training in identified areas, to premier Management
Institutes / Universities (both within the country and abroad) and/or other organisations
of repute in the identified area.
vii.
Ensure that global best practices
and new methodologies of audit are disseminated from IR wing to all the offices
and NAAA/iCISA/RTIs
viii.
Provide IT infrastructure for audit
teams – PCs, notebooks, pen drives and digital cameras (for capturing
photographic evidence).
Goal Supervisor: DAI
Goal Manager: AC (P) /
DG (NAAA)/DG (iCISA)
Roadmap:
a.
Standardise course design, course
material and training methodology across all RTIs and RTCs by March 2011.
b.
Prepare a shelf of case studies by
June 2011 to enhance the impact of training and upgrade the quality of faculty
in various training institutes.
c.
Identify specific
individuals/office/RTIs by December 2010, for carrying out research in selected
areas of audit and dissemination of best practices.
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