What Ails CAG?
WHAT AILS CAG, WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Evolving Challenges for the National Auditor
Dr. B P Mathur*
The institution of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in India is patterned on the British model. In Britain, The Exchequer & Audit Department Act of 1866 created the office of CAG with a view to strengthen democracy and exercise parliamentary control over national finances. The office of CAG came into being, thanks to the missionary zeal of William Gladstone who was Finance Minister at the time and later became the Prime Minster. CAG was required to audit expenditure and report to the Parliament. This solved the dilemma which had baffled the Parliament for years, ‘whether expenditure is to be controlled by in-expert parliamentarians
