Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India(CAG) has changed rapidly by adopting modern procedures and has overcome the image of a meddlesome busybody fumbling with files.

Addressing an event marking the celebration of first Audit Diwas, he said, “Today you are using advanced analytics tools, geospatial data and satellite imagery.

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“There was a time when auditing in the country was looked upon with apprehension and dread,” he said, adding, “CAG vs. Government had become the common thought of our system, but, today this mindset has changed and the audit is being considered as an important part of value addition now.”

Noting that the top auditing body not just keeps track of the nation’s accounts but also “does value addition in productivity and efficiency, deliberations on the Audit Day and related programmes are part of our improvement and improvisation”.

Describing that the CAG is an institution that has grown in importance and has created a legacy with passage of time, Modi also said that due to a lack of transparency in the country’s banking sector, various practices used to take place that resulted in an ever-increasing non-performing asset of banks. “You know very well the work done to brush the NPAs under the carpet earlier,” he added.

“However, we have put the truth of the previous governments in front of the country with complete honesty. We will find the solutions only when we recognise the problems,” he said.

Modi further said, “Today we are making such a system in which the thinking of the interference of the government is decreasing, and your work is also getting easier,”.

He also told the auditors that in accordance with ‘Minimum Government Maximum Governance, the contactless customs, automatic renewals, faceless assessments, online applications for service delivery. All these reforms have ended the unnecessary interference of the government,” he added.

The Prime Minister, while talking about the biggest epidemic of the century, pointed out that the country’s fight against it has also been extraordinary.

“Today, we are running the world’s largest vaccination programme. Just a few weeks ago, the country crossed the milestone of 100 crore vaccine doses,” Modi said, and suggested that CAG may study the practices that emerged during this great fight.

He also unveiled the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to mark the occasion. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India Girish Chandra Murmu was among those present on the occasion.