By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, OCT 26, 2014: THE President, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, will inaugurate the Accountants General Conference here on Monday. The three-day Conference is being organized by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on the theme of ‘Promoting Good Governance and Accountability through Public Audit’. Lok Sabha Speaker, Ms. Sumitra Mahajan, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman, Prof. K V Thomas and CAG of India, Mr Shashi Kant Sharma will also address the Conference.

The Accountants General from all over the country will participate in the conference and will review the international best practices prevalent in audit and accounting practices. Apart of the main theme, they will hold four brain storming sessions on (i) Emerging Areas of Audit (ii) Measuring the impact of Audit (iii) Capacity Building in IAAD and (iv) Challenges for A&E offices and present their recommendations to the full assembly chaired by the CAG with all the Dy. CAG’s and Addl. Dy. CAG’s present.

A panel discussion has also been organized this time to understand the external views on “Reporting for Public Interest: Value and Impact of CAG’s Audit”. The panelists on the session include Mr K M Chandrashekhar, former Cabinet Secretary, Mr H. K. Dua, eminent journalist and MP, Mr Bibek Debroy, eminent economist and Mr Anand Mahindra, eminent entrepreneur.

Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IA&AD), headed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, constantly strives to discharge its professional duties, both as an auditor and an accountant, in accordance with the international best practices. Today auditors are seen as partners in upgrading the governance and audit reports serve as an aid to the Government. In the public domain, there is an increasing awareness and demand for transparency and accountability in public sector service delivery. The Comptroller and Auditor General is seen as the agency which is mandated to keep a watch on economic, efficient and effective governance. The foundation of sound governance with accountability rests on a system of robust public financial reporting.

The IA&AD regularly organizes seminars, conferences and workshops to adapt and upgrade professional practices, structures and methods of functioning. The Accountants General Conference is a prime platform where the entire top level management of the IA&AD come together to review, discuss and recommend the direction in which the IA&AD needs to move in order to deliver its mandated duties in the best possible manner. It offers a forum for exchange of ideas, grappling with evolving issues and experience sharing.