Gen-Z movement impacts auditing; 179 offices’ documents burned, NPR 147.9 billion unaudited

Kathmandu – Auditor General Toyam Raya has stated that the impact of the Gen-Z movement is evident in the auditing process.

During a press conference on Friday to discuss the report from the Office of the Auditor General, Raya mentioned that some agencies have not provided necessary details for auditing, citing the Gen-Z movement as a reason.

According to him, while 753 local governments were audited last year, only 721 have been audited this year. Some local governments claimed unfavorable conditions and office damage due to the movement, along with disorganized documents, as reasons for the lack of audits.

Raya noted that documents from 179 offices were burned, resulting in the inability to audit accounts worth NPR 147.9 billion.

However, he mentioned that the irregularities in local governments have been consistently decreasing over the past three years, and despite some local governments not being audited, there is an overall improvement in financial discipline.

According to Auditor General Raya, 755 local governments were audited last year, including some pending cases. This year, only 721 local governments have been audited.

“Some local governments claimed that the current situation is not conducive for audits. Due to the damage caused by the Bhadra movement and disorganized documents, audits could not be conducted for those local governments. Therefore, the scope of auditing has reduced, leading to a decrease in irregularities,” Raya further explained.

“However, the decrease in irregularities is not solely due to fewer audits. In my initial report, the irregularities in local governments were about NPR 31 billion. Last year, it was NPR 25 billion, and now it has dropped to NPR 19 billion. This indicates gradual improvement in local governments.”

Raya informed that this year, the total irregularities have reached NPR 755 billion and that the names of accountable officials have been made public in the annual report.

He stated that through audits, preliminary reports, and inspection processes, NPR 14 billion has been recovered into the revenue account this year. He added, “Recovering NPR 14 billion from spent or outstanding amounts is a significant achievement. The Office of the Auditor General identifies irregularities, after which the Public Accounts Committee and concerned agencies proceed with necessary actions.”