E-Paper
Parliament panel seeks meet with CAG representatives over delay in annual reports
The committee, headed by Bahujan Samaj Party MP Ritesh Pandey, decided to hold the meeting after various ministries and departments alleged delay by CAG in completing the audit as the reason for not laying audit reports on time in Parliament.
A House panel on Papers Laid on the Table in Lok Sabha has called for a meeting with representatives of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on Monday to discuss the reasons behind delay in presenting annual reports and audited accounts in Parliament, people familiar with the matter said.
The committee, headed by Bahujan Samaj Party MP Ritesh Pandey, decided to hold the meeting after various ministries and departments alleged delay by CAG in completing the audit as the reason for not laying audit reports on time in Parliament.
“These reports should be submitted within the stipulated time given by Parliament and put in public domain. But a lot of organisations have told us that they are unable to lay the reports on time due to delay in appointment of an auditor even after submitting the reports to CAG on time,” one of the members of the committee said on condition of anonymity.
“We have called the representatives of CAG to discuss the issue and advise us how we can address them raised by these organisations,” the member added.
Besides finding out the reasons behind the delay, the committee is likely to discuss measures to ensure statutory requirements of laying the papers within the stipulated time is fulfilled. It is for the first time that the committee will hold a meeting with CAG officials, the member cited above, said.
The rules mandate all ministries, departments, autonomous government bodies, etc, to lay their papers on the table of the House within nine months of closure of the financial year (by December 31). In case a ministry or department fails to do so, the House panel on Papers Laid on the Table can examine the reason behind the delay.
Since October 2021, the committee has held 20 meetings and presented 45 reports related to delay by various government bodies in submitting their papers, the member said.
