Vice-president Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said any organisation that comes under the definition of “public authority” in the Right to Information Act, 2005, as interpreted by our courts and information commissions, should be subject to the audit of Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG).
Addressing at the inauguration of the diamond jubilee celebrations of “Yarrows”, the National Academy of Audit and Accounts in Shimla, Dr Ansari said public audit can achieve its aims only if there is timely and unhindered access to records.
The complex economic arrangements of our era demand that public debt management and provision of subsidies should be subject to public audit due to their significant impact on government budgets and burden of future generations, he said.
One of the core principles deemed essential for proper public sector auditing by the “Mexico Declaration on the Independence of Supreme Audit Institutions” is “unrestricted access to information”.
Provisions of the RTI Act, which has a time limitation for production of records and replies and has specific penalties for non-compliance, are worthy of emulation in this regard, he said, adding that the efficacy of public audit is premised on effective follow-up mechanism on the reports of supreme audit institutions submitted to the legislature.