ISSUE 2-Janurary 2015
 
space

From the Editor's Desk

Wishing all the readers a very Happy New Year.

The second issue of Journal of Government Audit and Accounts is now with you. The issue brings the highlights of the Accountants General Conference held in October 2014, including the inaugural address of the President of India. The Conference discussed pertinent issues which affect the functioning of the Department and also the strategies to address them. An eminent panel of external stakeholders shared their concerns and suggestions on value and impact of CAG's audit. The present edition of the Journal carries the background paper for this panel discussion as prepared by the Centre of Budget Governance and Accountability.

Data and information is the core and basis of any public administrative activity, whether it is about considering policy options, prioritising decisions, opting for various delivery methods or auditing it. We are presenting two initiatives where the data has been analysed in an effective fashion to support audit designing or supporting policy options. The first one considers how targeted sampling methods, paired with available data, could be used to increase the overall effectiveness of performance audit. Ms. Sarah Oberst, Research Associate, Evidence for Policy Design, Harvard Kennedy School, in collaboration with the Professional Practices Group of CAG of India has analysed the data available in public domain for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and has suggested targeted sampling methods. We hope to learn from this initiative and use similar techniques in our future audit endeavours.

In the second initiative, an analysis of inter-se share of tax devolution as determined by 13th Finance Commission has been attempted for a better appreciation of the working of the devolution model used by the Finance Commission, and in identifying aspects of the model that can be improved upon. This analysis of the horizontal devolution was done through use of Visual Analytics tools (QlikView and Tableau); the e-version of the journal makes available the data visualization in an interactive mode, and the reader can explore additional details of tax devolution.

In the next article, the author examines whether smaller local self-governments ensure greater financial accountability. This issue also carries a brief recap of challenges and criticisms of disinvestment of central public sector entities post year 2009. Under the regular entry- 'featuring an office' the National Academy of Audit and Accounts is being presented. Similarly, the Audit Report on Land management in Kerala has been included as 'featuring an audit report'. The issue also carries information on new policy initiatives, guidance notes and news from the international desk.

I sincerely hope that the readers find the issue interesting and intellectually stimulating. I will be looking forward to your valuable feedback and suggestions.

Signature
(Meenakshi Sharma)
Director General
Professional Practices Group







 

Continue Reading

  • Communications

    XXVIIth Accountants General Conference, 2014

    The biennial Conference of all senior officers (Accountant General/Principal Director level

    ...more

  • Land Management in Kerala

    Land Management in Kerala

    Land is the fundamental natural resource for developmental activities. Hence, the demand for land

    ...more

  • Tax Devolution

    Inter-se Tax Devolution

    The setting up of a Finance Commission (FC) every five years is a constitutional mandate- the Finance

    ...more

  • Disinvestment in CPSEs

    Disinvestment in CPSEs

    The objective of the GOI Disinvestment Policy is to unlock the true value of the Central Public

    ...more

  • Selecting Sampling Methods

    Selecting Sampling Methods

    The NREGA performance audit employed a multi-stage random sampling approach for the selection of districts

    ...more

  • Financial Accountabilty

    Financial Accountability

    The last two decades have witnessed a big change in the concepts of government's role, function and performance

    ...more

  • National Academy of audit and Accounts

    National Academy of Audit & Accounts

    The Indian Audit & Accounts Department has a history of over a hundred and fifty years.

    ...more

  • From the International Desk

    From the International Desk

    The CAG of India occupies important positions in the above agencies.The prominent ones

    ...more

  • Communications

    Communications

    Guidance Notes, Performance Audit Guidelines 2014, Revised AQMF

    ...more

  • Archive

    Archive

  • from the Editors Desk

    From the Editors Desk

    The second issue of Journal of Government Audit and Accounts is now with you. The issue brings the

    ...more

Back to Home
 
space