KATHMANDU: The Public Accounts Committee has said it has begun preparations to reduce outstanding audit irregularities amounting to Rs 755.17 billion through a “fast-track” approach.
The committee stated that policy-level facilitation has become necessary as the large volume of unresolved audit observations has raised concerns about the effectiveness and performance of government institutions.
Committee Chair Bharat Bahadur Khadka said the government has long faced criticism over growing unsettled audit amounts across public institutions and that efforts are now underway to address the issue through a more planned and aggressive approach.
“It is not enough to keep discussing audit irregularities year after year. The time has come to make a serious attempt to end this practice permanently,” Khadka said. “As a first step, the committee is holding detailed discussions with government agencies on the status and causes of these irregularities and working toward policy reforms.”
According to the 63rd Annual Report of the Auditor General, audit irregularities under the federal government alone amount to Rs 378.53 billion.
The report also shows Rs 33.96 billion in irregularities under provincial governments and Rs 220.47 billion under local governments. Additionally, committees and other institutions account for Rs 122.19 billion in unsettled audit amounts.
The report further states that the Ministry of Finance has the highest amount of unsettled audit observations at Rs 37.63 billion, followed by the former Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport with Rs 7.10 billion.
Similarly, the former Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation recorded Rs 1.53 billion in irregularities, while the Ministry of Forests and Environment accounted for Rs 1.34 billion and the former Ministry of Communications and Information Technology reported Rs 1.16 billion.
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