Shri Vinod Rai, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India will inaugurate the 96th International Training Programme on Performance Audit at C&AG Office, New Delhi at 11:00 a.m. on 13th September (Monday), 2010. The Office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India has been organizing International Training Programmes in different areas of auditing and accounting since 1979.

Ninety five international training programmes have been organized so far and 2815 middle and senior level officers from Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of 121 countries of Africa, Central Asia, South East Asia, Far East, Middle East, Pacific and East European region have participated in these training programmes. Most of the trainees are funded under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) & Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme (SCAAP) and Colombo Plan, run by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Performance audit has assumed great importance today in view of the prominence gained by governance and service delivery. Performance auditing promotes concepts and principles that enable public auditor to go beyond traditional compliance issues and enable him to examine performance of the executive in a wider context.

While compliance and attest audits still are important, the focus has shifted to performance audit, which examines economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the implementation of the programmes, projects and schemes. It promotes public accountability and is an aid to good governance.

The 96th International Training Programme will be attended by forty five participants from thirty six nations. Georgia is a new country for this programme and participation from Georgia will take our tally of participating nations to 122.