The delegates participating in the Commonwealth Auditors General Conference called on the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee today (March 23, 2017) at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Speaking on the occasion, the President expressed happiness that the multilateral forum of Auditors General of Commonwealth countries has met in India this year to discuss contemporary issues of relevance to the member Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs). He said that audit being a knowledge based activity, such interactions, sharing of knowledge, experiences, best practices would be mutually beneficial to all members of SAI.The President said that in India, the office of the CAG has been established by the Constitution of India. Government Audit plays an important role in the scheme of parliamentary financial control. The President said that it is praiseworthy that the delegates are engaging in fruitful deliberations on two very relevant contemporary themes, chosen for this Conference i.e. leveraging technology and environment audit.
On global and national level – technology and environment have become the key drivers for formulating strategies to address a host of issues. Technology has enabled faster communication, easy access to knowledge and information and facilitated efficient delivery of public services to citizens. Environment degradation and climate change along with their debilitating impact on our well being and of future generations are global concerns. Such concerns have led to positive action in the nature of Paris Agreement and other global treaties. Environment not only affects our well-being, its degradation threatens the very existence of several small island nations. Given the importance of technology and environment in today’s world, the SAIs will have to remain in the forefront in these fields. They have an important role to play in ensuring that the nations meet their commitments on environment treaties and leverage technology to provide high quality services to the citizens. The President hoped that the exchange of views and sharing of experiences at the Conference would help in providing future guidance not just to Commonwealth Countries but many other countries of the world.