CAG Creates Centralised Audit Cadres

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Thursday announced the creation of two centralised cadres to build deeper professional expertise and further improve the quality of audit of central government finances.

The CAG has accorded in-principle approval for the creation of specialised cadres -- Central Revenue Audit (CRA) Cadre and Central Expenditure Audit (CEA) Cadre -- within the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, DAI (HR, IR, CDN) K Subramaniam said at a media briefing here.

The scheme will be operationalised from January 1, 2026.

At present, the audit of central receipts and expenditure is undertaken by 9 Director General (Audit)/Principal Director (Audit) offices and exclusive offices with cadre control dispersed across multiple state civil audit offices and independent CCAs.

Subramaniam said the centralisation will unify cadre management, consolidating multiple fragmented cadres into two specialised streams.

The new cadres will consolidate over 4,000 audit professionals at the senior audit officer and assistant audit officer levels.

He further said the CRA cadre will promote specialisation in auditing government revenue collections, and the CEA cadre will focus on audit in government expenditure.

Explaining the benefits of centralisation, Subramaniam said specialisation in the cadre of CRA and CEA will lead to deeper domain expertise in revenue and expenditure audits.

It will also reduce the number of cadre-controlling authorities from 16 for CRA and 19 for CEA to a single central authority for each vertical.

He said all-India transfer liability within larger, unified cadres enables transparent rotation and improves the likelihood of periodic postings near homes, while meeting organisational needs.

"Everybody would have 2-3 opportunities in life to be closer home or in a place which is proximate," Subramaniam said.

To build domain expertise, two separate SAS examination streams will be introduced, one each for CRA and CEA.

Officers in both cadres will be liable for all-India transfers with their respective domains.

A transfer and posting board will be constituted to ensure transparent and equitable policies based on organisational needs and career progression considerations.