Delhi Audit Crisis: Why Incomplete Replies Are Stalling Accountability

He was speaking at a meeting held with senior officials to assess the status of action taken on reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, ahead of the Assembly’s Winter Session, likely to begin in the third week of this month.

The Speaker observed that the adoption of the Audit Para Monitoring System (APMS) in the Delhi Assembly marks a significant step towards transparency, procedural discipline and a more accountable audit follow-up mechanism.

“The APMS is now fully operational within the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, and Delhi is arguably the first State Assembly in the country to implement such a comprehensive real-time audit monitoring portal,” said Gupta

During the meeting, the challenges in audit follow-up were discussed extensively. It was noted that many replies uploaded by departments were not in the prescribed form and therefore could not be placed before the PAC, said a statement.

Gupta expressed concern while examining the status on the portal, which showed that 142 audit paragraphs had been uploaded by various departments, while only 30 Action Taken Notes had been submitted.

He noted that such pendency is unsatisfactory and stressed that timely and complete responses are essential for enabling the Public Accounts Committee to discharge its mandate effectively.

The Speaker stressed that incomplete or informal replies cannot be considered valid Action Taken Notes and must be returned for correction.

The remedial measures required to strengthen the audit response were also reviewed. The Speaker directed that all departments must submit corrected and properly formatted Action Taken Notes within three weeks.

Gupta instructed the Assembly Secretariat to circulate uniform guidelines specifying the required format, signing authority and the way replies must address individual audit comments.

The Speaker directed that a comprehensive demonstration of APMS be organised so that the system is well understood at all levels and so that officers accessing the portal are thoroughly familiar with its features, thereby expediting their processes.

He noted that proper training, strict adherence to the prescribed format and timely response to audit comments are essential for enabling the Public Accounts Committee to carry out its work efficiently.

The meeting was attended by Ajay Mahawar, Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts, Gajender Drall, Chairperson of the Committee on Government Undertakings, Aman Deep Chatha, Accountant General, Audit Government of India, Shurbir Singh, Secretary, Finance, Government of NCT of Delhi, senior officers of the Finance Department, and officers of the Directorate of Audit.

A detailed presentation was given at the meeting on the functioning of APMS, illustrating how the portal records each stage of an audit paragraph, captures comments issued by the audit office, tracks departmental replies, reflects delays and provides complete real-time visibility of pendency and compliance.

The APMS is a digital platform developed by the Ministry of Finance Expenditure Department and conceptualised by the Controller General of Accounts, based on the Public Accounts Committee's guidelines.

The system enables end-to-end monitoring of audit paragraphs, Action Taken Notes and Action Taken Replies. It displays the original audit observation, the deficiencies identified by the audit, the comments recorded at each stage, the responses uploaded by departments, the acceptance or return of replies and the statutory timelines for finalisation.

- IANS