The Punjab government has decided to conduct internal performance audit of expenditure made by various departments, boards and corporations, local bodies, panchayats and other agencies availing of government money in a effort to ensure optimum utilisation of government money and bringing accountability and transparency into the government's working. 

Punjab has become the first state in the country to introduce internal performance audit of the government's spending. This audit would be different from the regular audit conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

During a meeting, deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal asked chief minister's principal secretary SK Sandhu to prepare a proposal after consulting the finance department and other stakeholders.

He said the internal audit department should be headed by an administrative secretary-rank officer and this department would seek the services of expert international audit agencies, including private ones, to conduct the performance audit of various departments.

"The audit would not be confined to the financial audit but also cover the performance of the scheme, optimum utilisation of funds, optimum utilisation of human resources and whether the execution of a project could achieve the desired goal," Sukhbir said.. (Hindustan Times)