India’s audit standards vigorous: CAG

The audit was conducted by India according to UN standards and had excellent standards maintained according to UN auditing norms. India is still on UN panel of auditors.

India was the lead auditor for the programme in 1997-98 with Ghana and United Kingdom as members in the UN’s Board of Auditors (BoA). India was replaced by the Philippines in 1999, and South Africa and France joined BoA in place of Ghanna and UK.

In Chapter 2, Volume IV, of its report, the Volcker Committee states that in early years (throughout 1999), the audit scope was broad, covering both financial and reporting aspects and critical operational activities of the programme and the agencies. However, subsequent audits had a much narrower scope.

‘‘After 1999, the BoA substantially reduced its assessments of the pricing of oil and humanitarian goods contracts. Very large areas, amounting to over $70 billion in transactions 2000 onwards were widely suspected of being manipulated by the Iraqi regime,’’ says the report. ‘‘When asked why it decreased its audit scope and testing of critical areas such as oil and humanitarian contracts, BoA indicated that it had no definitive reason’’.

The oil-for-food programme started in 1996 and its first auditing was done in 1997.

It is the fifth and final report of the Volcker Committee, appointed in April, 2004, that had listed K Natwar Singh and the Congress as non-contractual beneficiaries.

Addressing a Asian Organsiation of Supreme Audit Institutions Seminar on Performance Audit, Kaul said performance audit is structured around concepts and principles that translate intentions of legislative branch into policies and programmes by the executive.