Calcutta, Dec. 24: The government today requested the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to clear its backlog of audits for zilla parishads and panchayat samitys in Bengal.

Comptroller and Auditor General V.N. Kaul met chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings today and expressed desire to carry out audits of the panchayats in the state.

“There is already an audit backlog of two to three years in the zilla parishads and 341 panchayat samitys. So, before the CAG begins work on auditing the panchayats, we want to be sure whether they are prepared to do so,” said finance minister Asim Dasgupta.

Kaul also met chief secretary S.N. Roy and finance secretary S. Ghosh.

Dasgupta said: “The discussion revolved around carrying out audits in the three-tier panchayat system.” “We have been urging the CAG to carry out the audits since the 1980s. It undertook the task to audit the 18 zilla parishads and 341 panchayat samitys but they were not prepared to carry out the task in the 3,400 panchayats,” Dasgupta added.

“We urge the CAG to clear the backlogs and submit the reports by October every year,” said Dasgupta.