Department History
- The Local Fund Audit Department marked its genesis in 1880 under the Madras Local Board Act, 1844 to audit the Accounts of Local Boards.
- The post of Examiner of Local Fund Accounts was created in 1885 to inspect the Local Bodies which eventuated in formation of an independent department, called Local Fund Accounts in 1921. Later in 1945, the audit of State Trading Schemes was entrusted to this department and the Examiner of Local Fund Accounts was also appointed as the Chief Auditor of State Trading Schemes.
- Considering the overburdened responsibility, the functions of Chief Auditor of State Trading Schemes was carved out from Examiner of Local Fund Accounts to form a separate department in 1969.
- Notwithstanding the bifurcation, both the department of Local Fund Audit and the Internal Audit & Statutory Boards Audit Department enjoy common cadre structure and the cadre control authority vested in the Director of Local Fund Audit.
- The nomenclature of Local Fund Audit Department was rename as Department of Local Fund Audit and the Examiner of Local Fund Accounts was re-designated as Director of Local Fund Audit.
- This Department was endowed with statutory powers by the Local Fund Act, 2014 and the Local Fund Audit Rules, 2016.
- The Director of Local Fund Audit is the ex-officio Treasurer of Charitable Endowments since 1952.
| Year | Department / Authority |
|---|---|
| 1880 | Local audit staff under the control of President of Local Fund Board which was periodically reviewed by Inspecting Staff under the control of Accountant General, Madras. |
| 1885 | Local audit staff transferred from the control of President of Local Fund Board to Treasury Deputy Directors. |
| 1885 | System of audit of Municipal Councils came under the review of Government (earlier carried out by non-official auditors). Examiner of Local Fund Accounts under the control of Accountant General, Madras was appointed as the Inspecting Officer. |
| 1903 | Detailed audit of receipts and expenditure of Municipal Councils conducted every half year by Examiner of Local Fund Board. |
| 1904 | Amalgamation of Local Fund Account Establishment with Audit Establishment (The objective was to ensure the correct classification of receipts and expenditure before the accounts compiled). In addition to the initial audit, test audit was conducted by the Examiner from Accountant General office. |
| 1920 | Finance Relations Committee was called and it recommended that the local audit staff should come under Examiner of Local Fund Board. Audit of expenditure was centralized in Madras under the supervision of the Examiner and audit of receipts was performed at the respective headquarters. |
| 1920 | Accounts Committee was formed and it recommended a system of local concurrent audit under the purview of a trained and independent supervisor to secure maximum degree of efficiency in audit of local and municipal expenditure. |
| 1921 | Local Fund Audit Department was placed under the control of Finance Department of Government of Madras. |
| 1922 | Local Fund Audit Department came into existence on the basis of recommendations put forth by the Accounts Committee. |
| 1945 | The audit of State Trading Scheme was entrusted to this department and the Examiner of Local Fund Board was appointed as the Chief Auditor. |
| 1952 | Examiner of Local Fund Board was appointed as the Treasurer of Charitable Endowments. |
| 1969 | Creation of State Trading Scheme Wing from Local Fund Audit Department and appointment of Chief Auditor. |
| 1992 | State Trading Scheme was named as Internal Audit Department under the control of Chief Internal Auditor and Chief Auditor of statutory boards. |
| 1995 | Designation of Examiner of Local Fund Accounts was changed as Director of Local Fund Audit. |