The Offices of the Principal Accountants General/ Accountants General (Audit) are the State level functionaries of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India. These Offices perform the Audit function of the C&AG in respect of the expenditures and receipts of the State Government including State Autonomous Bodies and State Public Sector Undertakings.
The State Audit arrangements have been evolving over the years leading to audit jurisdictional redistributions of State Government Departments between two State Audit Offices.
Cluster based jurisdictional division: The Office of the C&AG of India has grouped all the State Government Departments under sixteen different clusters based on their functional affinity since May 2020. As per jurisdictional readjustment made in May 2023, of these 16 clusters, seven clusters are placed under the Audit Jurisdiction of this office, while remaining nine are with the other Audit Office.
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Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit-I), West Bengal, |
Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit-II), West Bengal |
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Audit jurisdiction |
The following seven clusters are under jurisdiction of Audit-I Office :
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The following nine clusters are under jurisdiction of Audit-II Office :
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The Local Audit Department (LAD) is entrusted with audit of Local Bodies comprising Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) & Other Local Bodies (OLBs). LAD has separate budget, individual DDO, while the expenditure of entire LAD group is reimbursed by Govt. of West Bengal (the historical background of the LAD has been discussed under the Local Audit Department section).
Under the present arrangement since May 2023, Audit of all local bodies, i.e. Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies and Other Local Bodies is fully with this office i.e. Office of the Pr. AG (Audit-I), West Bengal. These units are subsumed under
- Rural Development Clusters (all PRIs)
- Urban Development Clusters(all ULBs)
- Other clusters (other local bodies depending on their departmental affiliation)
The Group Officer(s) in charge of audit of PRIs and ULBs are designated as the Examiner of Local Accounts (ELA). Under the unique arrangements prevailing in West Bengal, the ELA is the sole auditor of PRIs & ULBs.
Cluster-based re-organisation of State Audit Offices of May 2020:
Under the Cluster-based re-organisation of May 2020, which was followed during May 2020 to April 2023, the following was the distribution of clusters between two offices:
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Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit-I), West Bengal, |
Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit-II), West Bengal |
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Audit jurisdiction |
The following seven clusters are under jurisdiction of Audit-I Office:
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The following nine clusters are under jurisdiction of Audit-II Office:
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During May 2020 to April 2023, the LAD Function was bifurcated between two State Audit Offices.
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Office of the Pr. AG (Audit-I), West Bengal |
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Office of the Pr. AG (Audit-II), West Bengal |
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In November 1985, the Indian Audit & Accounts Department was bifurcated into Audit and Accounts. As a result, separate Audit office came into existence with effect from 1 November 1985.
The Audit Office was also divided into the following two offices
- Accountant General (Audit-I), West Bengal
- Accountant General (Audit-II), West Bengal
Since then the chronology of events of rechristening/ reorganization was as under
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Date |
Office-I |
Office-II |
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November 1985 |
Accountant General (Audit-I), West Bengal (including the Local Audit Department) |
Accountant General (Audit-II), West Bengal |
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April 2002: Rechristening of State Audit Offices |
Principal Accountant General (Audit), West Bengal |
Accountant General (Receipt, Works & Local Bodies Audit), West Bengal (The Local Audit Department was transferred to this office from the O/o the AG (Audit-I), WB) |
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April 2012: (Restructuring of State Audit Offices based on Sectoral distribution of Auditee Departments – General, Social & Economic) |
Principal Accountant General (General & Social Sector Audit), West Bengal (The Local Audit Department was transferred back from AG (RWLBA)) Jurisdictional outline: Departmental functionaries, Autonomous Bodies, and PSUs under General & Social Sector Departments such as, Health & Family Welfare, Education, Finance, Home, Public Health Engineering, Labour, Food & Supplies, Urban Development, etc.) (G&SS I wing) Panchayati Raj Institutions (SS-II Wing headed by Examiner of Local Accounts (PRIs)) Urban Local Bodies and Other Local Bodies (SS-III Wing headed by Examiner of Local Accounts (ULBs)) |
Accountant General (Economic & Revenue Sector Audit), West Bengal Jurisdictional outline: Departmental functionaries, Autonomous Bodies under Economic Sector Departments such as Public Works, Irrigation & Waterways, Environment, Forest, Agriculture, Transport, Power, Co-operation, Animal Resources Development, etc. (ESA-I Wing) All Public Sector Undertakings belonging to Economic Sector (ESA-II Wing) All revenue receipts of the State Government (RA Wing) |
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May 2020 (Cluster-based reorganisation of State Audit Offices) |
Principal Accountant General (Audit-I), West Bengal Jurisdictional Outline: All the State Government Departments were grouped under sixteen different clusters bases on their functional affinity. The following seven clusters are under jurisdiction of Audit-I Office :
Under this arrangement, the LAD Function was bifurcated between these two offices. Audit of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Other Local Bodies falling under above seven clusters remained with Audit-I |
Principal Accountant General (Audit-II), West Bengal Jurisdictional Outline: All the State Government Departments were grouped under sixteen different clusters bases on their functional affinity. The following nine clusters are under jurisdiction of Audit-II Office
On bifurcation of LAD function, audit of Urban Local Bodies and Other Local Bodies falling under the above nine clusters were transferred to Audit-II |
Till March 2002, the LAD was with the Office of the AG (Audit-I), West Bengal
Since April 2002, the LAD was attached to the O/o the AG (Receipt, Works & Local Bodies audit), West Bengal
At the time of reorganization of April 2012, LAD was once again transferred to this office in April, 2012.
During May 2020 to April 2023, the LAD Function was bifurcated between two State Audit Offices; Audit of PRIs was with Audit I Office; while ULBs were audited by Audit-II Office.
Since May 2023: In August 2022, a policy decision was taken by the Headquarters office that all the Local Bodies in a State should be audited by one Audit Office (Audit-I Office). This necessitated transfer of audit of urban Local Bodies from Audit-II to audit-I Office since May 2023.