President stresses on a stringent Financial Comptroller General’s Office

KATHMANDU, JUNE 29: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has said that the Office of the Financial Comptroller General should work more rigorously to enforce disciplined expenditure of the revenue, loans, grants and financial assistance.

Addressing the 59th Anniversary Program of the Office of the Financial Comptroller General here today, President Bhandari called for an end to the tendency to remain silent in the face of fiscal indiscipline.

“Arrears is increasing in an appalling manner every year; the arrears should be cleared promptly to maintain fiscal discipline. The country cannot become prosperous unless it is freed of financial irregularities and corruption, and it is in this context that the Office has a paramount role to play,” the President observed.

Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki expressed the commitment to immediately start works to settle arrears amounting to approximately Rs 400 billion.

“A lot of budget is being channelled to the local level from the next fiscal year as per the new federal set-up, and the Financial Comptroller General’s Office has an important role to play in maintaining financial discipline in this budget,” he remarked.

Comptroller General Tankamani Sharma shared that the Office’s annual report showed the arrear amount to be Rs 396 billion 250 million. “The accounts of 4,786 offices were audited in the 54th report and the number of office accounts to be audited for the 55th report is 5,500,” he said.

The Office has stated that clearing the arrears that has accumulated for years is challenging. The Office is to bring the concept of social auditing and collective auditing from this year on.

Former Financial Comptroller General Bhanu Prasad Acharya was honoured on the occasion.

Likewise, the winners of an essay competition on the theme, ‘Role of the Financial Comptroller General’s Office (FCGO) in Federal Governance System of the Country’–Baibhavdev Shrestha, S Pokharel and Lekh Bahadur Thapa—were awarded certificates and a cash prize of Rs 15,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively.

Similarly, FCGO Director Shiva Ram Gurung, comptrollers Sabina Chitrakar, Kumar Chitrakar, Shivahari Pokharel and Madhusudan Mahat and driver Surya Bahadur Tamang were honoured with Rs 5,000 each for their excellent work in related fields. RSS