News:  Year 2007: January-March

SDS commits Nu. 1.5 million to RAA

March 13, 2007: The Auditor General of Bhutan and the Director of the Sustainable Development Secretariat signed an agreement on 12^th March 2007 whereby the latter would provide Nu. 1.5 million for various institutional development areas of the RAA.

The 10 month project would cover areas ranging from the procurement of IT Equipment, Audit Awareness and the RAA Library Development.

Mid Year Review Meeting Concludes

January 26, 2007: The Mid Year Review Meeting of the Royal Audit Authority concluded on 23^rd January 2007. The meeting was held at the RAA Conference Hall and was attended by all the senior officials of the authority including the Assistant Auditor Generals and some of the team leaders of the three Regional Offices. The meeting was chaired by the Hon'ble Auditor General of Bhutan.

During the 2 days Review Meeting, the RAA reviewed the progress of activities planned for the year including the actions taken by the respective divisions on the resolutions of the monthly Policy and Planning Meetings and the 9^th Annual Audit Conference. Based on the progress of the activities during the last six months, changes were made to the plans for the remaining 6 months which was accordingly approved by the Review Meeting.

The Review Meeting also endorsed the budget for 2007-2008. The Hon'ble Auditor General informed the meeting that considering the budget constraint faced by the government, the RAA must bear with the minimum budget and make the best use of all available resources.

January 3, 2007: The Auditor General of Bhutan briefed the Dasho Dzongdags of the twenty Dzongkhags of Bhutan on 3^rd January 2007 at the Conference Hall of the Royal Audit Authority.

 During the briefing and discussions which started from 5 pm, the Auditor General informed the Dasho Dzongdags on the role of RAA as a constitutional body and the various strategies framed by the RAA to shoulder such important responsibility. He also discussed on the common audit observations from the audit of various Dzongkhags and urge them take note of their responsibilities and accountabilities and to institute adequate accounting and internal control system.  Maintenance of proper documentation system was also emphasized during the briefing. "Executives not taking responsibility for the predecessor's period has become one of the main causes of many audit observations", said the Auditor General.

Dasho Dzongdags expressed their concern on the long outstanding audit observations in the Dzongkhags. It was mutually agreed that the Auditor General will visit all the Dzongkhags to resolve or to find an amicable solution to such long outstanding audit observations. However, he informed them that no compromise will be made for cases of fraud and corruption.