DIRECT ANSWER: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) ensures accountability in disaster preparedness by conducting performance audits of public health infrastructure, assessing the efficiency of resource utilization, supply chain management, and compliance with disaster response protocols. This scrutiny is crucial for identifying systemic failures and strengthening health resilience against future crises.
Why in News?
Recent high-profile audits (e.g., post-COVID-19 pandemic reports) highlighted significant deficiencies in the utilization of emergency funds, procurement of medical supplies, and the lack of surge capacity planning in public hospitals, bringing the effectiveness of CAG auditing in the context of Disaster Management (DM) under the spotlight.
What is the Concept / Issue?
The core issue involves the application of the CAG's performance auditing mandate—derived from Article 148 of the Constitution and the DPC Act, 1971—to evaluate the preparedness, response, and resilience of the national public health infrastructure. This includes examining compliance with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines, the functionality of critical medical equipment, and the efficiency of supply chains during emergencies, ensuring 'economy, efficiency, and effectiveness' (the 3Es) of disaster spending.
Why is this Issue Important?
- Strategic: Ensures transparency and operational readiness of the national public health system, which is a critical component of national security, especially in dealing with biological disasters and climate change-induced events.
- Economic: Prevents wasteful expenditure, minimizes leakages in emergency procurement processes, and ensures optimal utilization of specific funds like the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) allocated for health infrastructure upgrades.
- Geopolitical/Social: Enhances public trust in governance during crises, reduces morbidity and mortality rates by ensuring critical infrastructure (hospitals, oxygen plants, vaccine storage) is functional, and addresses equity issues by auditing access to healthcare in remote disaster-prone areas.
Key Sectors / Dimensions Involved
- Dimension 1: Performance Auditing Standards: Focuses on the methodology used by the CAG to audit non-traditional areas like health protocols, epidemiological surveillance systems, and rapid response deployment capabilities, requiring specialized domain knowledge.
- Dimension 2: Health Infrastructure Resilience: Involves the physical and operational robustness of assets (e.g., primary health centres, tertiary care hospitals, cold chains) to withstand disaster impact and maintain essential services, often audited against global best practices and NDMA guidelines.
- Dimension 3: Statutory and Financial Accountability: Linking expenditures made under specific acts (like the Epidemic Diseases Act or NDMA Act) to tangible outcomes, ensuring that emergency appropriations are justified and verifiable, thereby upholding parliamentary accountability.
What are the Challenges?
- The lack of standardized, pre-defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and measurable outcomes specifically for disaster preparedness auditing makes evaluation subjective and difficult.
- Audit processes often occur post-facto, limiting the scope for real-time course correction during an unfolding crisis, thereby delaying accountability mechanisms.
- Insufficient specialized capacity within CAG teams to audit complex, technical health sector areas such as vaccine efficacy management, specialized medical equipment maintenance, and clinical waste disposal protocols.
UPSC Relevance
Prelims Focus:
- Article 148, CAG functions, and reporting relationship (DPC Act, 1971).
- Structure and mandate of NDMA, NDRF, and SDRF.
- Difference between Compliance Audit and Performance Audit.
Mains Angle:
GS Paper II / III – Governance, Accountability of Statutory Bodies (CAG); Disaster Management and linkages with Public Health Systems.
How UPSC May Ask This Topic:
Critically examine the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in improving India's disaster preparedness mechanisms, focusing specifically on gaps identified in public health expenditure and infrastructure resilience post-pandemic.
What is the Way Forward?
- Establish a dedicated 'Health and Disaster Audit' wing within the CAG, staffed by specialists (doctors, epidemiologists, logisticians) to conduct high-quality, technically sound performance audits.
- Mandate real-time or concurrent audits for high-value emergency procurements during disaster periods to prevent fraud and ensure timely delivery of critical resources.
- Integrate audit recommendations directly into disaster planning cycles (NDMA/SDMA frameworks) and ensure statutory compliance by requiring audited entities to submit mandatory action-taken reports to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).