CAG Compliance Audit on Union Government
In News
What Happened
Why It Matters
Background
History & Context
What Changed
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BEFORE: Ministries often delayed submitting Utilization Certificates (UCs) without facing immediate parliamentary consequences. NOW: The CAG report explicitly red-flagged over Rs 54,000 crore in pending UCs across 15 ministries, exposing a failure to close the loop on sanctioned grants.
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BEFORE: Revenue and capital expenditures were assumed to be correctly classified in official departmental accounts. NOW: The audit exposed systemic misclassification of revenue expenses as capital expenditure, artificially inflating the government's capital asset creation numbers.
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BEFORE: The ASI's administration and ownership of Centrally Protected Monuments were generally presumed to be legally sound. NOW: The audit revealed a severe oversight, documenting that 94% of these monuments are being maintained without proper legal titles or land ownership documents.
Prelims Angle
NCERT Connection
Practice Questions
Q1
Correct Statement(s)Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and financial accountability in India? 1. The CAG's Compliance Audit examines whether rules and procedures, such as the General Financial Rules (GFR), are being followed by government entities. 2. Utilization Certificates (UCs) are documents submitted by the CAG to the Public Accounts Committee to certify the legality of government expenditures.