The Hindu Business Line : Government audit

This is in response to the article `The importance of government audit', by Mr S. Sundaresan (Business Line, October 2). He seems to has misunderstood the message of the Prime Minister, which only laments the way audit departments have been functioning `reducing the executive to a prisoner of procedures than an achiever of purpose'.

He has neither criticised the audit profession nor undermined its need.

Quoting research findings of Mr Bent Flyvbjerg and colleagues and instances of corporate bungling of the US and the establishment of new regulatory machineries will no doubt emphasise the need for effective regulatory mechanism (reliable checks and balances).

But it will not justify the manner in which the present governmental audit systems function.

It could be better for government to set up a small not-for-profit organisation, made up of experienced (not retired) personnel from the audit, vigilance and police departments and also from large project organisations and the executive, which may study and suggest improvements in the functioning of these regulatory set-ups.

In addition there could be a periodic rotation of personnel from audit to line functions and vice-versa in infrastructure project organisations, so as to provide multidisciplinary exposure and organisational cross-fertilisation leading to improved efficiency in decision-making.

G. Venkataraman

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