Plunder of Public Exchequer as Government Audit Sleeps

Plunder of Public Exchequer as Government Audit Sleeps K P Joseph Cases like the Bihar fodder scam in which officers of a small department of the Bihar government succeeded in stealing nearly Rs 1,000 crore through gross and repeated violation of basic financial rules spread over several years show how government audit has collapsed and the public exchequer is being plundered at will WHEN inaugurating the conference of accountants general in New Delhi recently, prime minister H D Deve Gowda spoke about the decline in the performance of the audit department and the finance committees of the legislature. He wanted to strengthen audit and called for suggestions from the audit department to do this. Past experience shows that well-intentioned suggestions like those of the prime minister are forgotten even before the conference is over and ignored. It will be a miracle if things turn out differently this time.