I n Jammu and Kashmir, without mincing words, audit is either thought to be absolutely optional and expendable or an interference in the ”normal” working or at best pertaining to financial matters to find out whether any irregularities were committed. Even in that sense, much importance is rarely given even to an audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. So the question is pertaining to the familiarity with the basic concept of audit and that is due to the missing of an important ingredient in Human Resources Development – that of periodic training of employees in Jammu and Kashmir. Each and every cadre in Government departments must get training on varied topics of importance in the pursuit of fulfilling the vision of optimum output and delivery structure in offices and departments. We have been voicing our concern intermittently about such an avoidable situation and still are not sure whether all departments in the UT have undergone the ”rigours” of audit for the year 2019-20 and that all have submitted replies to audit notes and rectified mistakes and irregularities. The above prelude shall throw light on the very basis of such a scenario being there in the UT departments and giving place to formation of a vicious circle which needs to be broken. That could be done by means of a manpower audit or in technical terms by a Human Resources audit in each and every department in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is not that the Government authorities especially in General Administration Department, particularly having expertise in Human Resources Development and personnel management do not know that such an audit should be there and that some type of preliminaries too having taken place but in practical terms, beyond paper work nothing is visible on the ground. That is quite evident from how the manpower audit is perceived and the same proceeded ahead. As is wont with the general approach of the Government to resolve an issue of an important nature, committees – usually high powered, are constituted to study all the aspects of the said issue and asked to submit the recommendations. Such recommendations are then subjected to scrutiny and the process of accepting, rejecting or amending starts which, again, is not usually done within a fixed timeframe. The possibility of constituting yet another committee to delve into the same issue afresh cannot be ruled out as the same has happened on umpteen times dealing with important issues. Why the Government cannot out rightly hire the services of experts in manpower or HR audit and instead go in for a longer route to get the same done through constituting of committees which sleep over the matter for over four months and the Government doing nothing about it excepting changing the earlier order only in respect of making a change in who would henceforth head this committee? It is just pointing towards a casual and a lackadaisical approach to such an important and a sensitive issue. Administrative prudence and efficiency is manifest in how things could be got done in time and not letting more time to pass to render the particular issue attain layers of dust of time over it and to go in oblivion. Otherwise, who does not know the objective behind conducting of manpower audit – for better and optimum utilization for quality performance, for classifying accurately the employees, for saving costs and expenses on over staffing, updating job descriptions and the like. An insight into qualitative aspects of the working culture in UT departments and offices could be obtained only through such audits and why, then, no vivid importance is given to it? Latest in the world of employment laws, trends, challenges, competitions, introduction of technologies and the like – all laced with impacting the working culture and better and optimum performance, could visit the workplaces through a professionally conducted manpower audit. Why, then, no further action by the Government in respect of its own initiative to decide to go in for manpower audit in the UT
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