ALL INDIA AUDIT & ACCOUNTS ASSOCIATION
CSV WARRIER BHAWAN
Ph : 01202881727/8017743253
E-mail: auditflaq@qmail.com Website: www.auditflag.bloqspot.com
Reference:
AIA/ B-1/43/2023 Dated: 01/08/2023
To
Shri
Girish Chandra Murmu,
Hon’ble
Comptroller & Auditor General of India,
9,
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,
New Delhi – 110 124.
Subject: Closure of RAPs under jurisdiction of O/o PDCA, Chennai-reg
Respected
Sir,
I am sorry to inform you that the Resident Audit
Offices were formed in large undertakings for conducting more effective and
fruitful audit. While each undertaking had its own special problems, an
effective and efficient audit of these concerns required specialized knowledge.
As on March 2005, there were 12 Principal Director Offices, 15 branch offices and
120 Resident Audit Offices (RAOs). During that period, these offices were
engaged in the audit of 288 Central Government Companies, 89 deemed Government
Companies and 6 Statutory Corporations. Though there were various restructuring
of Commercial Audit Offices occurred in the post-independent India, the
Resident Audit Offices were existing under the PDCA without much change ever
since the formation of Audit Board in 1960s and 1970s.
The Principal Director of Commercial Audit had various
RAPs including NLCIL/Naively, BHEL/ Trichy, Cochin Ship Yard, MRPL/ Mangalore
etc. Consequent upon restructuring of the offices of the Principal Accountant
Generals in Tamil Nadu during April 2012, the Resident Audit Offices at Chennai
Port, VOC Port Trust (Tuticorin), New Mangalore Port & Cochin Port, were
transferred to the audit jurisdiction of PDCA, Chennai. It is very unfortunate
that all these Resident Audit Offices were dissolved (vide letter
No.676/CA-I/127-2020/Restructuring dated 21.07.2023) based on a proposal
received from the PDCA, Chennai sent vide letter No. DGCA /Admn
/2022-23/12-69/924 dated 30.03.2023, without consulting to the Staff Side of
the I.A.& A.D. Prima Facie, the proposal was arbitrary, pre-conceived and has
no leg to stand on facts. Further, the closure of RAPs would result in
additional expenditure on HRA, TA, DA etc to the tune of Rs.3.6 crore per
annum. Moreover, it is pertinent to quote verbatim statement of Sri A. K. Roy,
Former CAG “Government Audit involves a review of the decisions taken by the
Board of Directors to ascertain to what extent their powers have been exercised
in the best interest of the undertaking, whether the powers delegated to the
chief executives have been executed properly, whether the unit is being
administered efficiently and economically”. The Resident Audit Teams perform
these exercises continuously and aids the Constitutional authority to perform
his duties. The decision of abrupt closure of the RAPs would invariably end up
in diluting the constitutional responsibility.
In these circumstances, it is requested kindly to
intervene into the matter and direct the D.A.I.(C) to keep the present proposal
of dissolving the RAPs and transfer of personnel in abeyance. In case of any doubt/clarification required we are prepared
to personally clarify the same. Awaiting for your earlier and favourable action
please.
Thanking
you in anticipation,
Yours
faithfully,
Tapas
Bose
Secretary
General
