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UPSC 2024 GS-II · 10 marks · 150 words

The duty of the Comptroller and Auditor General is not merely to ensure the legality of expenditure but also its propriety. Comment.

नियंत्रक-महालेखापरीक्षक का कर्तव्य केवल व्यय की वैधता ही नहीं, अपितु उसकी औचित्यता भी सुनिश्चित करना है। टिप्पणी कीजिए।

What “Comment” demands

give a considered opinion on the specific proposition, supported by evidence — brevity is expected, evasion is not.

The characteristic failure: a general essay on the topic that never addresses the proposition itself.

What a top answer must contain

These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.

  • Art 148-151; DPC Act 1971 — compliance, financial and performance audit as the statutory base
  • Legality vs propriety: authorised-by-budget vs wisdom-faithfulness-economy of spending (2G and coal-block audits as propriety audits that changed politics)
  • Ambedkar's 'most important officer'; CAG-PAC chain closing the accountability loop
  • Counter-note: propriety audit accused of policy second-guessing (hindsight bias) — the balanced answer names the line between audit and policy

The band thresholds and the pre-scored sample answers behind this standard stay private — they are the calibration your copy is placed against.

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