Difficult to achieve Viksit Bharat goal by 2047 without development of rural India: CAG

Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Girish Chandra Murmu stated on Tuesday that India cannot become Viksit Bharat goal or a developed country by 2047 without the development of the hinterland. He noted that although decentralization of power has not proceeded as far as it should have, gram sabha, or rural bodies, still do not have the proper standing in the federal framework.

“Without the development of grassroots level at the local level, we cannot achieve Viksit Bharat. More than 50 per cent people live in rural area, and until their governance, their development, their administration, their resources are not augmented, we will not be able to reach (Viksit Bharat goal). As our prime minister says that if everyone take one step, we will have 1.4 billion steps… that is why Jan Bhagidari is important,” he said.

In the nation, there are around 7,000 urban local bodies and 2,60,000 panchayats. He emphasized the need of fortifying local organizations to ensure the effectiveness of government initiatives, emphasizing that the sooner this is done, the better for the nation. He said that strengthening local entities is essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and that accounting and auditing are crucial to the flow of funding to these organizations.

According to the CAG, municipal corporations cannot be permitted to obtain funds from the market if they have not adhered to appropriate accounting standards with relation to urban local bodies.

He went on to say that state governments had to concentrate on enhancing capacity in order to ensure that local bodies’ accounting and auditing requirements are appropriately adhered to. He noted that auditing not only increases system openness but also improves the financial viability of government initiatives, and that auditing is the only way to get the desired results.

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