Secretary Govinda Bahadur Karki States Audit Dissent Can Be Significantly Reduced With Clear Action Plan

Kathmandu. Secretary of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Office, Govinda Bahadur Karki, has stated that existing audit dissent can be significantly reduced if a clear action plan is made and pursued. Speaking at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee, he emphasized the need for all bodies to prioritize the settlement of audit dissent. He clarified that most audit dissent is of a nature that needs to be regularized, evidence needs to be gathered, and it should be regularized through the concerned office chief, accounting chief, and ministry secretary, and then audited by the Office of the Auditor General. According to him, audit dissent can be reduced if an action plan is made and pursued ruthlessly. He also informed that the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Office has prepared a separate action plan for the settlement of audit dissent. Secretary Karki said, 'If we work ruthlessly to reduce audit dissent, it will decrease. Since most of the audit dissent needs to be regularized, evidence needs to be gathered, and it needs to be regularized by the concerned office chief, accounting chief, and the ministry's secretary and audited by the Auditor General, we can reduce audit dissent if we create an action plan and move towards settling audit dissent.' He added, 'The Prime Minister's Office has that plan, that action plan. We call it the internal control system, but it seems to be limited to formality. We do not link performance with those who create audit dissent, increase audit dissent, and those who do not create audit dissent, and we have not been able to make the creation of audit dissent and the settlement of audit dissent a criterion for our integrity and employee evaluation. It seems to me that audit dissent has increased due to these various reasons.' He stated that the internal control system has not been effectively implemented and mentioned that it is still limited to formality. Secretary Karki said that there is no clear link established in the performance evaluation between employees who create audit dissent, increase audit dissent, and those who do not. He stated that the main reason for the increase in audit dissent is the inability to make the creation and settlement of audit dissent a criterion for employee integrity and evaluation. (News Agency Nepal)