In 1945, the Government appointed the Examiner of Local Fund Accounts as Chief Auditor, State Trading Schemes, for internal departmental audit of the accounts relating to the State Trading Schemes administered by the Commissioner of Civil Supplies Department. Subsequently, several State Trading Schemes administered by other Departments had also been brought within the purview of the Examiner of Local Fund accounts.
The Government ordered in G.O.Ms.No.449, Finance Department, dated 03.05.1969, to create a new department with separate staff strength for audit of the accounts relating to State Trading Schemes under the control of Chief Auditor, State Trading Schemes.
Vide G.O.Ms.No.598, Finance (Local Fund) Department, dated 3.8.1992, the functions of two audit departments viz. Departments of Local Fund Audit and Chief Auditor, State Trading Schemes, were realigned and the Chief Auditor, State Trading Schemes was re-designated as Chief Internal Auditor and Chief Auditor of Statutory Boards. In G.O.Ms.No.264, Finance (Local Fund) Department, dated 16.08.2019, Internal Audit and Statutory Boards Audit Department was renamed as State Government Audit Department and the Post of Chief Internal Auditor and Chief Auditor of Statutory Boards was renamed as Director, State Government Audit Department.
Name of the Institutions
I. Tamil Nadu Khadi & Village Industries Board
II. Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board
III. Tamil Nadu Housing Board
IV. Tamil Nadu Wakf Board
V. Tamil Nadu Labour Welfare Board
VI. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority
The audit of the above institutions (except Sl.no. IV & V) are conducted annually on concurrent basis. The audit reports of these institutions are issued within the stipulated time frame and paragraphs of serious irregularities are brought to the notice of the Government and Public Undertakings Committee of the Tamil Nadu Legislature. The audit of Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Tamil Nadu Water supply and Drainage Board have been entrusted to this Department by the way of executive orders.
The audit of the following Non-Statutory institutions are conducted by this Department annually.
| Sl. No. | Name of the Institution / Schemes |
|---|---|
| 1 | Agricultural Institutions (AEC, SAEC, State seed farms, seed processing units, etc.) |
| 2 | Weights and Measures Institutions |
| 3 | The accounts of all the institutions receiving grants-in-aid exceeding Rs.20,000/- recurring per annum and Rs.1,20,000/- non recurring - without any ceiling being audited by SGAD as authorized and subject to the conditions stipulated in G.o.ms.no.1035, Finance (FUNDS) department, dated: 14.11.1980 |
| 4 | Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Nutritious Noon Meal Scheme |
| 5 | Integrated Child Development Scheme |
In addition, the audit of the following auditee institutions / schemes are taken up by this Department
This Department certifies the quantum of grant eligible to grants-in-aid institutions, apart from this the Pension and Provident Fund of the employees of all the Boards are certified.
In G.O.Ms.No.598, Finance (Local Fund) Department, dated 3.8.1992, the Government of Tamil Nadu have entrusted the internal audit functions of all Government Departments to this Department. At present, Internal Audit by this department is carried out in the following departments namely,
1. Medical Education & Research Department
2. Medical & Rural Health Services
3. Public Health & Preventive Medicine Department
4. Revenue Administration and Disaster Management Department
5. Technical Education Department
6. Social Welfare & Women Empowerment Department
7. Forest Department
8. Police Department
9. Agricultural Engineering Department
The gist of audit paragraphs which are serious in nature are brought to the notice of concerned Head of the departments and the concerned Secretaries to Government for corrective action.
The replies received from the auditee institutions other than Statutory audit institutions (except TNWB and TNLWB) are verified and the objections are settled by the concerned district level officers of this department through joint sitting, if found satisfactory. With regard to the Statutory audit institutions (except TNWB and TNLWB), serious audit objections are referred to the Public Undertakings Committee and the paras are settled by the committee itself. Other than these paras, remaining paras are settled by the Department.
The demand for audit fee is raised on the basis of the actual cost of audit or average cost. In respect of Institutions controlled by judiciary like AG, OL, OT, OA, SF etc, and wakf institutions audit fee is raised on the stipulated percentage basis as provided in the audit entrustment orders. The audit fee is remitted by the institutions into respective head of account of the Tamil Nadu Government.
Refresher courses are conducted for the State Government Audit Department Auditors every year by the Department to update their audit knowledge and improve the quality of audit.
As the conventional audit focus more on the procedural compliances with a view to verify whether the intended objectives of a Scheme/ Project were achieved by the Government Department / Boards concerned, performance audit has been introduced.