State audit as an aid to good governance

Abstract

The study titled ‘State Audit as an aid to Good Governance’ is done to examine the contributory role of state audit and how improvement of governance of public purse is influenced by the same. Ensuring a quality life for the citizens as stipulated in the Constitution in a democratic environment with limited resources requires presence of State Audit and Governance in the affirmative stance. To augment the process, state audit deserves to be put on the front line as it is the tool to find the flaws and suggest ways of mending the gaps. But this happens only when certain characteristics of state audit corroborate with some inherent parameters of good governance. The research has been carried out to identify the factors responsible for the poor status of state audit, and suggest ways for strengthening their impact on governance. The study attempts to find out the inherent characteristic of State audit and Good governance in order to establish the extent of their interdependency. It is the outcome of an in depth interview based qualitative research. It has been found that if state audit is based on acceptable and applicable standards with reasonable assurance of information that it provides, it can be the effective tool for good governance. Existence of state audit with such qualities can help create awareness among the auditees about urgency of audit requirement. Furthermore, it would facilitate making choices in setting priority of execution of decisions and ensuring accountability of performance of both auditor and auditee leading to good governance.