The Offices of the Principal Accountants General/ Accountants General (Audit) are the State level functionaries of the Indian Audit & Accounts Department, headed by 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 Autonomous Bodies and 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.

Reorganisation of April 2012: In April 2012, audit jurisdiction of all the State Government Departments including the Autonomous Bodies and Public Sector Undertakings was distributed between two audit offices based on the Sectoral affinity (i.e. General, Social and Economic) of the Departments. In this process the names of the Audit Offices were also changed. The erstwhile Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit), West Bengal has been renamed as the Principal Accountant General (General and Social Sector Audit), West Bengal, while the erstwhile office of the AG (RW&LBA) came to be known as the Office of the Accountant General (Economic and Revenue Sector Audit), West Bengal. The Office of the PAG (G&SSA) is the Cadre Controlling Authority of both the offices.

Reorganisation of May 2020: In a paradigm shift from the earlier arrangements of the State Audit Offices, The Office of the C&AG of India decided to group all the State Government Departments under sixteen different clusters based on their functional affinity. Of these 16 clusters, seven clusters are placed under the Audit Jurisdiction of this office, while remaining nine are with the other Audit Office. The present reorganization also involved change in the names of the Offices as under

  Office-I Office-II
Erstwhile name of the Office Office of the Principal Accountant General (General & Social Sector Audit), West Bengal, Office of the Principal Accountant General (Economic & Revenue Sector Audit), West Bengal
New name of the Office Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit-I), West Bengal, Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit-II), West Bengal
New jurisdiction The following seven clusters are under jurisdiction of Audit-I Office
Health and Welfare
Education, Skill Development and Employment
Finance
Rural Development
Agriculture, Food & Allied Industries
Water Resources
Law & Order
The following nine clusters are under jurisdiction of Audit-II Office
Energy and Power
Industry and Commerce
Transport
Urban Development
Environment, Science and Technology
Public Works
IT and Communication
Culture and Tourism
General Administration

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).

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 after restructuring.

Under this new arrangement of May 2020, the LAD Function is bifurcated between two State Audit Offices. Audit of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Other Local Bodies falling under above seven clusters remained with Audit-I Office, while audit of Urban Local Bodies and Other Local Bodies falling under nine clusters were transferred to Audit-II

Office of the Pr. AG (Audit-I), West Bengal All Panchayati Raj Institutions
All Other Local Bodies administratively affiliated to any of the seven clusters falling under audit jurisdiction of Audit-I Office
Office of the Pr. AG (Audit-II), West Bengal All Urban Local Bodies
All Other Local Bodies administratively affiliated to any of the nine clusters falling under audit jurisdiction of Audit-II Office

A summary of the evolution of the State Audit Offices in West Bengal is shown below:

Evolution of the State Audit Offices

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

Date Office-I Office-II
November 1985 Accountant General (Audit-I), West Bengal
(including the Local Audit Department)
Accountant General (Audit-II), West Bengal
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)
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 G&SS 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)
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
Health and Welfare
Education, Skill Development and Employment
Rural Development
Agriculture, Food & Allied Industries
Water Resources
Law & Order
Under this new arrangement the LAD Function is 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
Energy and Power
Industry and Commerce
Urban Development
Environment, Science and Technology
Public Works
IT and Communication
Culture and Tourism
General Administration
On bifurcation of LAD function, audit of Urban Local Bodies and Other Local Bodies falling under above nine clusters were transferred to Audit-II
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