Financial audit of schools not done for years

Srinagar, Sep 22: government seems to be in deep slumber regarding the auditing of prominent government higher secondary schools in Srinagar for the last three years.
An audit is an examination of funds to determine whether the money spend by the school authority on various expenses in schools are being managed efficiently and effectively. However, the financial position of several schools is not known as no audit has been done in last few years.
“It is necessary to have an effective audit system in government schools to ensure proper utilization of government funds. It has to be done once in every two years but nothing such has been followed here,” said an official at Accounts General Office.
The official said that there is no examination of funds at most of the prominent government higher secondary schools of Srinagar, including Government Higher Secondary School NawaKadal and Kothi Bagh Higher Secondary School.
“There are also several other schools where audit is pending since two to three years,” he added.
Principal Kothi Bagh, Qazi Romana told The Kashmir Monitor, “I am here for the last three years and since my time period no one from Accounts General Office have come for examining the funds in my school.”
Similarly NawaKadal Higher Secondary School has also been left without auditing the funds used since more than three years.
NawaKadal Higher Secondary School principal, Fatimah Shaheen said, “Auditing of funds is pending for last three years in my school as it is done by AG (Accounts General) office.”
Chief Education Officer, Mudasir Kaleem Fazili told The Kashmir Monitor, “We are not the concerned authority accountable for auditing of funds in government schools.”
He said that Accounts General Office is the concerned authority which is responsible for supervising the utilization of funds in the government schools.
Deputy Accountant General, Tsewang Tharchin, was not available in the office nor could be contacted for comments. While the senior Audit Officer, Narinder Gupta too refused to comment on the issue.