A new era begins in the auditing culture of Bangladesh as the supreme audit institution of the country yesterday launched a digital audit management system to prepare quality reports within a short time.
The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) has installed an integrated software system to connect all its departments and also built a central data warehouse to preserve data.
The integrated network will help identify pre-auditing risks and give updates on the status of all audit objections, said Ahmed Ataul Hakeem, the comptroller and auditor general of Bangladesh.
“We want to make the Office paperless. The digital audit system will take us one step ahead towards the vision,” said Hakeem.
An audit team will be able to make audit plans effectively and get all previous data using the system, he said.
Auditors from outside Dhaka will also have access to real-time operational and reference data of the Office, he said.
“It is a milestone for the auditing department. Digital auditing will help clear a huge backlog of unresolved audit reports,” said Speaker Abdul Hamid at the launch of the system at Audit Bhaban in the city.
He said the system will also ensure transparency and accountability in managing public funds.
Many government institutions such as Bangladesh Bank, National Board of Revenue, and Roads and Highways Department have already digitised their activities, said Amir Khasru, deputy comptroller and auditor general.
“So, it was important to digitise our activities as we have to audit their data,” said Khasru.
The OCAG has been implementing the five-year project — Strengthening Comptrollership and Oversight of Public Expenditure — funded by Canadian International Development Agency.
The Tk 72-crore project, which began in 2010, aims to strengthen capacity of the OCAG to improve the quality of auditing through need-based practical training, enhance report writing skills and improve the IT system by overhauling the present network.
Under the project, the OCAG has brought 350 laptops and 400 desktop computers under the network, said Khasru. They also trained around 1,200 employees and established an integrated email system for all the staff members of the auditing body, he added.
“The system will minimise corruption in public fund management and ensure good governance,” said MA Mannan, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of parliament.
Hakeem, the chief comptroller, said they have sent a total of 529 audit reports to the Public Accounts Committee of the Jatiya Sangsad during the ninth parliament.
The committee has discussed more than 5,600 audit objections and resolved more than 3,000 objections, he said.
The OCAG also realised Tk 1,227 crore, which was dodged through irregularities, from different government enterprises during the last four years, said Hakeem.
-With The Daily Star input
