First Women CAG of India- Check Here All details

First Women CAG of India: Sindhushree Khullar, the secretary of the Planning Commission, was being considered for the position of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India after Vinod Rai exited office on May 22, 2013. The UPA government then intended to nominate a woman to the top audit position. Finance Minister P Chidambaram has been tasked by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with picking the new CAG. Chidambaram picked Rai at the time. India was getting ready to have its First Women CAG of India. However, Shashi Kant Sharma, a central civil servant of the 1976 batch of the IAS cadre from Bihar, was appointed as the 12th Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

First Women CAG of India

Sindhushree Khullar was Chidambaram’s private secretary and was expected to be the First Women CAG of India in 2023. Her husband Rahul Khullar was a confidant of the Prime Minister at the time. According to government reports, Sindhushree appeared as the forerunner for the position at the time. Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth and telecom secretary R Chandrasekhar, who recently retired, were also candidates. The PMO wants non-controversial officer Ajit Seth to stay until the Lok Sabha elections. RK Singh, the Union Home Secretary, is ranked fourth.

First Women CAG in India

If she was appointed, she would become the First Women CAG of India or India’s first female auditor, and she and her husband, Rahul Khullar, would be controllers at the same time for the first time. Rahul Khullar, the former Commerce Secretary, is the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). After then-current CAG Vinod Rai retires in May, Sindhushree Khullar, secretary to the Planning Commission, was anticipated to succeed him as India’s comptroller and auditor general.

CAG Full Form

CAG stands for Comptroller and Auditor General. It is commonly referred to as the CAG of India. According to the Indian Constitution, the CAG is an autonomous authority.

• The currently serving CAG of India is Shri Girish Chandra Murmu.CAG is the Chief Auditor General of India and the Chief Guardian of the Public Purse.
• In Chapter V of the Indian Constitution, the duties and obligations of this post are described.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is the supreme authority in charge of external and internal audits of national and state government expenditures.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General serve as one of the few posts that are directly appointed by the President of India.
• CAG is an institution that ensures the responsibility of the government and other public authorities (all those who spend public monies) to Parliament and State Legislatures, and hence to the people.

Present CAG of India

Girish Chandra Murmu was selected as the new Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG.) on August 7, 2020.

• Girish Chandra Murmu was previously the lieutenant governor of the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.
• He is a Gujarat cadre IAS officer from the 1985 batch who served as Narendra Modi’s senior secretary during his time as Gujarat’s Chief Minister.
• Prior to him, Rajiv Mehrishi took over as CAG on September 25, 2017.
• He also serves as the chairman of the UN Panel of External Auditors and the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions.
• He currently serves as the WHO’s external auditor (2020-2023), following the Auditor General of the Philippines.

1st CAG of India

From 1948 to 1954, V. Narahari Rao was India’s first Comptroller and Auditor General or 1st CAG of India. V. Narahari Rao was a post-independence Indian public officer who worked for the Indian Audit and Accounts Service. In 1954, the Government of India showered upon him the third highest civilian distinction, the Padma Bhushan, for the services he rendered to civil service.

Female CAG of India

According to official sources, Sindhushree was named the front-runner for the position of first-ever Female CAG of India in 2023. Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose, finance secretary RS Gujral, ex-petroleum Secretary GC Chaturvedi, and ex-telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar were also candidates. But finally, she did not become the Comptroller and Auditor General.

So technically there is still no First Women CAG of India present. Sindhushree graduated from Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College and holds Master’s degrees from prestigious universities such as Harvard and Boston. Sindhushree is a 1975-batch officer who now serves as the Mission Director for the Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme.

List of All CAG Officers in India

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has the authority to audit all receipts and expenditures of the Government of India and the State Governments, including those of autonomous bodies and enterprises that receive major government funding. The CAG is India’s top audit institution, created under Article 148 of the Indian Constitution. The List of CAG officers in India from 1950 to the present is presented here.

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