“We have also taken advantage of technology”: CAG of India on use of drones, GPS and remote sensing

New Delhi [India], November 16 (ANI): Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Girish Chandra Murmu, during his speech on the occasion of the third audit day said that more than 43000 people across the country are now connected to CAG offices through webcasts.

“I consider myself extremely privileged to welcome the Honorable President of India on the third Audit Day. At present, more than 43,000 people are connected through webcasts from our offices across the country,” said Girish Chandra.

Audit Day commemorates the momentous occasion of the appointment of the first Auditor General of India and the establishment of the institution of CAG on 16 November 1860.

Recognising the significance of the day in the annals of Indian history, since 2021, the CAG has celebrated November 16 as Audit Diwas.

“Recognizing the importance of this historic day, from the year 2021 onwards, we will observe November 16 as Audit Day,” said Girish Chandra.

The CAG of India further said that if the recent past is looked upon, there is a sense of satisfaction at the significant progress made by the Supreme Audit Institution of India on many fronts.

“This has been a time where we have played a greater leadership role among the global Supreme Audit Institutions (SAOs) community while fulfilling our constitutional obligation,” he said.

CAG Girish Chandra Murmu said that in cognisance of the paradigm shift in governance to a digital bedrock, the apex auditor too has leveraged technology.

“As we all know, there have been significant developments and changes in the field of digital governance across the country. Keeping this paradigm shift in mind, we have also taken advantage of technology. And this year we have achieved a remarkable achievement,” he added.

Girish Chandra, during his speech, also said that from April 2023, there has been a 100 per cent digital transition in audit processes, using a unique enterprise-wide audit process and knowledge management system (One IAAD One System – OIOS), which will now be the single source of truth for the audit processes.

Further speaking on Data analysis, Girish Chandra said, “Data analysis is a permanent feature of our audit processes and the regular use of advanced tools such as Drones, Global Positioning System (GPS) and Remote Sensing has enabled us to gain nuanced observations that would not have been possible previously.”

“The integration of our accounting offices with state government financial systems has given us access to financial information flows and large datasets. We will strive to further strengthen the relationship between Accounts and Audit by developing data analytics capabilities in the accounting function, especially for financial information analysis,” said the CAG of India.

He expressed a belief that this will lead to better-informed audits and help in enhancing Public Financial Management outcomes.