New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) The Comptroller and Auditor General of India's outreach is now being extended to include political executives to highlight audit concerns, the apex government auditor said on Wednesday.

Presently, senior CAG officials interact with bureaucrats to select the segments for audits, which include the period to be audited and the terms of an audit.

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At the end of the audit, an exit conference is held with bureaucrats. However, now the CAG is proposing to interact with ministers as well. Already, there have been occasions where the apex auditor had interacted with political executives on auditing matters.

"The Comptroller and Auditor General of India's outreach is now being extended to include political executives to highlight audit concerns. The intention is to build a shared understanding of the most pressing concerns in governance and find possible solutions," CAG Girish Chandra Murmu said during an orientation programme with the Officer Trainees of the Indian Information Service (IIS).

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The participants belong to three batches of 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The release further said that during the orientation programme, Murmu said the media is a very powerful tool that adds value to society.

"In the Indian context, it has helped to disseminate the government's plans and initiatives. As a probationer, you have to understand the perspective and vision of your department, and it should improve the country's image in the international arena," he said.

The CAG stressed that the public has the right to access fair and objective information, whether it is about the government or otherwise.

"As officers, you should be able to guide the ministries and departments, the dignitaries and functionaries you are going to cover. Here positioning, marketing and principles will come to play a role. The core of your training is to learn these strategies, and the soft skills to add value to your work," he said.

Observing that most of the officers are from an engineering background, Murmu said that technical skills should be used to handle the challenges of future media, especially with emerging self-help AI tools such as ChatGPT.

He said that the trainee IIS officers should gear up to meet the challenges posed by Big Data and artificial intelligence.

During the day-long session, senior CAG officers took sessions to explain the working of the institution.

Deputy CAG Ila Singh spoke on the evolution of the CAG and the different types of audits it carries out with the highest professional standards, while the Additional Deputy CAG AM Bajaj explained the technicalities involved in the auditing process.

Additional Deputy CAG RM Johri illustrated several high-profile case studies to highlight the positive impact of auditing, apart from the CAG's path-breaking initiative to natural resources accounting and the scope of artificial intelligence in the field of audit and accounts.

Additional Deputy CAG Rebecca Mathai threw light on CAG's international presence and its global strategy in this year's G20 Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) Meet, which has a focus on Blue Economy and Artificial Intelligence.

Director General BR Mondal gave details about the critical coordination between the CAG, Parliament and Public Accounts Committee.

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