INTRODUCTION
Accountant General (Accounts & Entitlements), Punjab functions under the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (C&AG) who is the Head of the Indian Audit & Accounts Department. The Comptroller & Auditor General of India is a Constitutional Authority appointed by the warrant of the President of India. By virtue of the provisions of Government of India (Audit & Accounts) Order, 1936 as adopted by the Government of India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947 and Article 149 of the Constitution of India, the C&AG had the power to frame rules and give directions in all matters pertaining to the audit of accounts for which he was responsible. The functions of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India are derived mainly from the provisions of Article-149 to 151 of the Constitution of India.
The C&AG’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 under the Articles 148(3) and 149 of the Constitution was passed by Parliament in 1971
History of IA & AD
The Comptroller and Auditor General Of India was originally
called the Accountant General to the Government of India in 1858 and later
designated as the Auditor General of India in 1860, the Comptroller General of
Accounts in 1866, the Comptroller and Auditor General in 1884, the Auditor
General in India under the Government of India Act 1919, and the Auditor
General of India under the Government of India Act 1935, he was entrusted with
the responsibility for the accounting and audit of the Government of India and
eleven provincial governments and performed his duties and functions through
the Indian Audit and Accounts Department. There were fifteen Auditors General,
excluding those who held short tenures during the leave of absence of the
regular Auditor General right from 16th November 1860, when Hon. Sir Edmund
Drummend held the office for sixteen months, till 14th August 1947, when the
last British Auditor General Sir Bertie Monro Staig, who had assumed the office
on 11th April 1945, continued as Auditor General after taking oath of
allegiance to the Indian Dominion.
The IAAD was organized functionally under a centralized unitary administration
under the authority, direction and control of the Auditor General of India.
With field offices under the heads of Departments/ offices who performed the
functions assigned to them under the scheme of powers and authority delegated
by the Auditor General of India. The Office of the Auditor General of India was
situated at Simla, and he was assisted by a Deputy Auditor General, who
functioned, generally as his Chief of Staff and, except in the case of reports
on accounts submitted to the Legislatures, was authorized to deputize for him
in any matter and to any extent mutually determined from time to time between
them. The Government of India (Audit and Accounts) Order, 1936 was adapted by
the Indian Provisional Constitution Order, 1947. Shri V. Narahari Rao, who was
Secretary to Government of India, Finance Department, became the first Indian
Auditor General of the free Dominion of India on 15th August 1948. He had
joined the IAAS on 5th March 1917 and served in various capacities for over
thirty years. Mr. W.R. Tennant was the Deputy Auditor of India until 26th
November, 1947 and he was succeeded by Shri M.K. Sen Gupta on 27th November
1947.The functions and duties of Comptroller and Auditor General are derived in
the main from the provisions of Articles149,150 and 151 of the Constitution.
Parliament has enacted the Comptroller and Auditor General‘s. (Duties, Powers
and Conditions of Services) Act 1971 which prescribes the duties and powers of
the Comptroller and Auditor General as well as his conditions of service. This
Act came into force from 15th Dec., 1971 and superseded the provisions of the
Audit and Accounts Order, 1936 as adopted by the India(Provisional
Constitution) Order 1947 which regulated the duties and powers of the
Comptroller and auditor General in relation to the accounts of the Union and of
the States till then as envisaged in the Article 149 of the Constitution.
After the departmentalization of Accounts of the Union Government in 1976, with
the primary purpose of developing an organizational pattern suited to the
changed environment of Audit and to improve maintenance of Accounts of the
State Government transactions, the Indian Audit & Accounts Department was
restructured in March 1984. It was considered unlikely that a composite
Accountant General’s office could develop experts in such a vide garnet of
functions involving totally different areas as vide as Works Audit, Receipt
Audit, Commercial Audit, Establishment Audit, Accounts Compilation, Entitlement
Functions, Autonomous Bodies Audit etc. Thus, the composite offices of the
Accountants General were bifurcated into distinct offices with separate cadres
for dealing with (a) all audit work and (b) all accounting & entitlement work.
Accordingly, the offices of Accountant General (Audit) and the Accountant
General (A&E) came into being with effect from 1.3.1984
History of Accountant General Punjab
The Accountant General and the Chief Auditor in Punjab were
among the officers of the General Department of Accounts constituted with
effect from 1st May 1858 for accounting and auditing the transactions of the
then province of North West province, which were later combined in the office
of AG, Punjab at Lahore. The work relating to newly formed province of the
North-Western Frontier under Chief Commissioner was entrusted to AG, Punjab and
the arrangement continued even after the formation of North-Western Frontier
Province in 1901. Both under the 1921 reform and the 1936 order the office of
AG, Punjab was a well established office known for its efficiency. The accounts
of local fund and all public works or quasi-public bodies were audited by the
Examiner Local Fund Accounts under the AG. The cadre of the local audit
department was separated from that of the AG’s office and Shri P.D. Pande was
the Accountant General in 1946.
The office was divided between the Dominions of India and Pakistan under the
Indian Independence Act, 1947 and those who were allotted to India formed the
office of East Punjab for auditing and accounting the transactions of the
residuary Punjab, which moved to Simla, where they were housed in the General
headquarters (Western Command) building, Gorton Castle and portion of the
buildings of the Railway Board. AG was assisted by a DAG, one Examiner (OAD)
and an RAO at Bhakra Dam and Nangal Project. On 26th January 1950, East Punjab
became Punjab, a Part A State, and the office was designated as the office of
the AG, Punjab, Simla. Integration of States saw the formation of Patiala and
East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), and the C&AG became responsible for auditing
and accounting of the transactions of the audit of PEPSU with effect from 13th
April 1950. After the creation of the PEPSU the offices of the Auditor-in-Chief
and Chief Accounts Officer were merged and designated as Comptroller, PEPSU.
Shri T.S.P. Iyer was the Comptroller from 13th April 1953 and continued for
three and half years and recorded with satisfaction, while relinquishing
charge, that the state of the office was on a par with that of any audit
offices in Part ‘A’ States. Himachal Pradesh became a Part ‘C’ State and the
princely state of Bilaspur was merged under the HP and Bilaspur (New State)
Act, 1954 and the audit and accounts of the new state of Himachal Pradesh was
also entrusted to the AG,Punjab.
Consequent on the enactment of the States Reorganization Act, 1956, the State
of the Patiala and East Punjab States Union ceased to exist with effect from
the 1st November 1956, and a new State of Punjab was formed from that date
comprising the territories of former States of Punjab and of the Patiala and
East Punjab States Union. Consequent on formation of separate offices of AG,
Himachal Pradesh and Haryana in 1969, the work relating to the States of HP and
Haryana along with officers and staff were transferred to the newly created
office with effect from 1st April,1969 and the headquarter’s of Accountant
General Punjab office was shifted from Simla to Chandigarh.
The composite offices of the Accountants General were bifurcated on 01/03/1984
into distinct offices with separate cadres for dealing with (a) all audit work
and (b) all accounting & entitlement work. Accordingly, the offices of
Accountant General (Audit) Punjab and the Accountant General (A&E) Punjab came
into being with effect from 1.3.1984
Mandate for Accounts maintenance
Sections 10 to 12 of the Act ibid deal with the responsibilities of C&AG in relation to Compilation of Accounts of the Union, the States and Union territories with Legislatures Under the provisions, the C&AG compiles the Accounts of the States, keeps such accounts in relation to compiling of the Accounts of the States as may be necessary and prepares Appropriation Accounts & Finance Accounts every year The Appropriation & Finance Accounts are signed by the C&AG of India and presented to the Governor of the State for laying on the table of the State Legislature.
Mandate For Audit
Sections 13, 16 and 17 of the C&AG’s (DPCS) Act, 1971 define the duties of the Comptroller & Auditor General in relation to the audit of the accounts and the transactions relating to the Consolidated Fund, Contingency Fund and the Public Accounts of the Union, the States and Union Territories, C&AG is also responsible for the audit of Local Bodies (i.e. Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies) under the provisions of some of the State Acts and provides technical and administrative guidance for Accounting & Audit functions in all States.
The reports of the C&AG relating to the Accounts of the Union and the States are submitted to the President/Governor of the State for being laid before the Parliament/State Legislature. The C&AG is also responsible for ensuring a uniform policy of accounting & audit in the Government Sector as a whole. The Act authorizes C&AG to lay down for the guidance of the Government Departments, the general principles of Government accounting and the broad principles in regard to audit of Receipt & Expenditure.
The mandate of C&AG inter-alia includes audit of:
Receipts and expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India and of the State and Union Territories.
Transactions relating to the Contingency Funds and Public Accounts.
Trading, manufacturing, profit and loss accounts and balance sheets, and other subsidiary accounts kept in any Government department.
Accounts of stores and stock kept in Government offices or departments
Government companies as per the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956
Corporations established by or under laws made by Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the respective legislation
Authorities and bodies substantially financed from the Consolidated Funds
Any body of Authority even though not substantially financed from the Consolidated Fund, the audit of which may be entrusted to SAI
Grants and loans given by Government to Bodies and Authorities for specific purposes
Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies
The audit mandate also provides for the periodic inspection of records and accounts of the Government departments to supplement the audit of vouchers and sanctions that are with the accounts compiling offices.
What Do We Do....
COMPILE
Monthly accounts of expenditure and receipts of Government of Punjab from:
1. Vouchers and schedules received from 18 treasuries of the State.
2.The office receives compiled account from Public Works department. 85 divisions of B&R, 90 divisions of Irrigation and 48 divisions of IPH branches of PWD render monthly compiled accounts to this office.
3.40 divisions of Forest department render monthly compiled accounts to this office and vouchers of Forest department from Firozpur and Sangrur treasuries are also received in this office.
4.After compilation of these accounts, monthly Civil accounts are prepared for submission to the Finance Department of the State Government. Thereafter Annual Appropriation and Finance Accounts are prepared for submission to the Governor of Punjab for presentation to the State Legislature.
5.Reconciliation of accounts maintained in the Accountant General offices with those of the treasuries in respect of transactions under various deposit heads. Reconciliation of Plan expenditure figures and preparation of statement of plan expenditure.
MAINTAIN
1. Detailed loan accounts in respect of Long term advances taken by the members of the State Legislature and State Government employees
2. Accounts of loans made by the State Government to its various departments.
3. Accounts of loans/grants-in-aid received by the State Government.
ISSUE
1. Annual GPF Account slips to the subscriber in respect of UT Government Employees.
2. Balance communication in r/o loanees of Punjab State &UT Chandigarh.
3. No Dues certificates on complete Principal amount of loan.
4. Payslips to the Governor, Ministers, Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly.
FINALIZE & AUTHORIZE
1. Pensionary Benefits
a. Pension/ Family Pension b. Death cum retirement gratuity c. Commutation of pension
INSPECTION
1. Treasuries and sub-treasuries of the state periodically.
CONTRIBUTE
1. Material for preparation of Central Finance Accounts to Controller General of Accounts, Government of India, Ministry of Finance.
AUDIT
1.Audit against provision of funds
2.Regulatory Audit.
3.Propriety Audit.
4.Efficiency Cum performance or value for money audit, and
5.System Audit.