Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 21 : A two-day 'National Workshop on Public Sector Auditing in India' will be held here from July 5.

The workshop will cover Public Sector Cost Management, Accounting Ethics, Fiscal, Managerial and Programme Accountability in public funds.

The two-day programme covers Performance Audit, Audit Receipts, Audit Planning, Examination of Records, Audit Sampling, Audit Risks, Settlement of Audit Objections, Internal Audit & Internal Control, Audit in IT Environment and Audit of Financial Statements etc.

It is being organised by Corporate Relations Institute, the training arm of Corporate Relations Private Ltd. Announcing details of the seminar Mr M Rajan Panicker, former Dy. Accountant General, Kerala and Member of the Audit Team of UNO (UN Habitat & Union, Kenya), said that the public sector Auditing in India has undergone "terrific advancements recent years". CAG reports currently go through extensive discussions among a wider audience in our society. There is a popular feeling of extending the coverage of CAG audit to "all areas where Government money is involved", he said.

In order to alert the Auditee Organisations on the systematic faults and to make them attentive to adopt fiscal prudence, CAG has started making reports 'in the form of advisories', he said. It was reported that, the CAG has started conducting studies on its own and prepare Management Reports which are not tabled in Parliament, but shared only with the Government, he elaborated.

Starting with a report on the Common Wealth Games, four such Reports are already out. Such reports are not Audit Reports in that sense, as they are not carried out under Article 151 of the Constitution, which would make it mandatory for tabling in Parliament. Instead, they are 'assessment reports on the working of selected departments and other key projects' in the country. According to him, thinking is also gaining momentum among audit circles towards 'bringing all Public- Private Partnerships, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Banks, Insurance Sector and Societies getting Govt. funds within the ambit of the audit by CAG'.

All these developments point towards the essential need for adherence to financial discipline while dealing with public money, he says.

A team of audit professionals consisting of former IA&AS Officers and Public Auditors constitute the faculty for the workshop. Finance & Accounts Personnel in Central & State Government Departments across the nation, Public Sector Enterprises, Autonomous Bodies & other entities auditable by the C&AG of India shall attend.