The Kerala Government is considering creation of a separate department of audit to deal with the requirements of the cooperative sector, according to the Minister for Cooperation, Mr G. Sudhakaran.

He said this while inaugurating a workshop conducted by the regional office of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) aimed at sensitising statutory auditors with the latest guidelines of Nabard and the Reserve Bank.

The specific areas covered in the workshop were the policy guidelines under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949; audit rating of banks; prudential norms; and the Kerala State Cooperative Societies Act, 1969. Mr Bhawar Puri, Chief General Manger, Nabard, presided.

In his inaugural address, the Minister emphasised the importance of proper auditing system to ensure transparency in preparation of annual financial statements of banks. The statutory auditors at the office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies and individual banks are playing an important role in this context.

The cooperatives movement in the State is strong and vibrant, the Minister said. At around Rs 36,000 crore, its deposit base is sound. The extent of faith that people have in the system is evident from the success of special deposit mobilisation schemes implemented in recent times.

In his presidential address, Mr Puri stressed the importance on the role of the audit system in cooperatives. The system is critical not only from the point of view of the statutory requirements, but also for painting a true and correct picture of the state of affairs to help initiate timely and corrective remedial action, if needed.

Mr Puri assured the cooperation and support of Nabard to the State Government in its endeavour to complete the audit exercise by cooperatives in a timely and professional manner. More such workshops will be conducted in future, which will take account of the feedback obtained and the suggestions emanated from previous events. Nabard would help publish a checklist of audit norms in handbook format for the benefit of auditors in the State.

Among those present at the workshop were Mr Kadakampalli Surendran, President, Kerala State Cooperative Bank (KSCB); Mr Jiji Thomson, Principal Secretary, Cooperation; Ms Rani George, Managing Director, KSCB; and representatives from the Reserve Bank regional office and the Department of Cooperation.