Comptroller and Auditor General - SSC Economics Notes

After the release of the SSC calendar, we are here to help you with your SSC preparations by providing you SSC Notes on Economics. In this blog we will read about the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the constitutional provisions, the Duties & Responsibilities etc. It is an important topic in Economics which in turn is an important subject under the General Awareness section of the SSC CGL Tier I test. Read and learn about the Duties, Responsibilities and Powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in this blog.

Start your SSC CGL Preparation with a free Oliveboard Mock Test

Comptroller and Auditor General of India

The Constitution of India provides for an independent office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
CAG is the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department.
As a constitutional functionary, CAG is primarily entrusted with the responsibility to audit the accounts and related activities of the three tiers of Government – Union, State and Local; the State-owned public sector commercial enterprises; and autonomous bodies financed by the Union and State Governments.
His reports are laid before the Parliament and Legislatures of the Provinces.

The CAG is appointed by the President and the duties and powers are bound by an act of Parliament called the Comptroller and Auditor General (Duties, Powers and Conditions of service) Act 1971.

Constitutional Provisions:

Article 148: It speaks of the Terms of Appointment of CAG, the Salary, Allowances & Pension, the Oath and the Terms of Service of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
Article 149: It talks of the Duties and Powers of the CAG.
Article 150: It talks of the Forms of Accounts of the Union & State Governments as overseen by the CAG.
Article 151: It talks about the submission of the reports of the CAG in case of Union Government to the President and in Case of the State Governments to the respective State Governors.

Start your SSC CGL Preparation with a free Oliveboard Mock Test

Some Important Definitions

In this Comptroller and Auditor General (Duties, Powers and Conditions of service) Act 1971, unless the context otherwise requires,

Accounts – This is in relation to commercial undertakings of a Government that includes trading, manufacturing and profit and loss accounts and balance-sheets and other subsidiary accounts
Appropriation accounts – This means accounts which relate the expenditure brought to account during a financial year, to the several items specified in the law made in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution or of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, (20 of 1963) for the appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India or of a State, or of a Union territory having a Legislative Assembly, as the case may be.
Comptroller and Auditor-General – The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India appointed under article 148 of the Constitution
State – This means a State specified in the First Schedule to the Constitution
Union – This includes a Union territory, whether having a Legislative Assembly or not.

Start your SSC CGL Preparation with a free Oliveboard Mock Test

Term of Office

The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall hold office for a term of six years from the date on which he assumes such office provided that where he attains the age of sixty-five years before the expiry of the said term of six years, he shall vacate such office on the date on which he attains the said.

Duties and powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General

To compile the accounts of Union and State Governments
To prepare and submit accounts to the President, Governors of States and Administrators of Union Territories having Legislative Assemblies
To give information and render assistance to the Union and States
To audit all expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India and of each State and of each Union territory having a Legislative Assembly and to ascertain whether the money shown in the accounts as having been disbursed were legally available for and applicable to the service or purpose to which they have been applied or charged and whether the expenditure conforms to the authority which governs it
To audit all transactions of the Union and of the States relating to Contingency Funds and Public Accounts
To audit all trading, manufacturing, profit and loss accounts and balance-sheets and other subsidiary accounts kept in any department of the Union or of a State; and in each case to report on the expenditure, transactions or accounts so audited by him.
Audit of receipts and expenditure of bodies or authorities substantially financed from Union or State Revenues.
Audit of Receipts of Union or of States
Audit of accounts of stores and stock
Audit of Government companies and corporations
Laying of reports in relation to accounts of Government companies and corporation
Audit of accounts of certain authorities or bodies

Start your SSC CGL Preparation with a free Oliveboard Mock Test

Powers of Comptroller and Auditor General of India

The Comptroller and Auditor-General has the authority –

To inspect any office of accounts under the control of the union or of a State, including treasuries, and such offices responsible for the keeping of initial or subsidiary accounts, as submit accounts to him;
To require that any accounts, books, papers and other documents which deal with or form the basis of or an otherwise relevant to the transactions to which his duties in respect of audit extend, shall be sent to such place as he may appoint for his inspection;
To put such questions or make such observations as he may consider necessary, to the person in charge of the office and to call for such information as he may require for the preparation of any account or report which it is his duty to prepare.

That is all from us in this blog: SSC Notes Economics – Comptroller and Auditor General of India. We hope you liked reading the information provided above and it is a valuable addition to your SSC CGL Exam preparation. All the best.

Also Read: SSC Notes Economics – Finance Commission of India

SSC Notes Economics – Theory of Demand and Supply

Read more SSC Notes.

Start your SSC CGL Preparation with a free Oliveboard Mock Test