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Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday launched an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled Rural Internal Audit Portal, a digital platform aimed at improving financial oversight, audit efficiency and governance across the Ministry of Rural Development's programmes, according to the Ministry of Rural Development.
The ministry said the portal is a "first-of-its-kind unified digital platform for end-to-end management of internal audits covering both risk-based and compliance audits," replacing fragmented and paper-based audit processes with a technology-driven system. According to the release, the AI-enabled platform integrates audit planning, execution, reporting, compliance management, monitoring and analytics into a single digital ecosystem, helping strengthen transparency and accountability in government spending. "The Rural Internal Audit Portal has transformed internal audit from a fragmented, paper-intensive and largely manual exercise into a transparent, technology-enabled and data-driven management system," the ministry said. The portal, conceived by the Office of the Chief Controller of Accounts (CCA) and developed with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), also supports risk-based audit planning and real-time monitoring of audit progress, Action Taken Reports (ATRs), financial irregularities and compliance status through interactive dashboards. Highlighting the role of AI, the ministry said the platform has been designed to integrate "Artificial Intelligence, advanced analytics and machine learning tools for risk assessment, audit prioritisation and decision support." It added that AI-powered capabilities will support "intelligent audit planning, identification of high-risk entities, predictive analytics, pattern recognition and evidence-based decision-making." The release said the platform has already reduced dependence on physical records and manual correspondence, while automated workflows have improved coordination and accelerated audit approvals. It added that analytical dashboards have enhanced the ministry's ability to identify implementation risks and monitor programme performance. The ministry also said the portal has received in-principle approval from the Office of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance, for adoption across civil ministries and departments. The CGA recognised it as the "first unified digital platform for end-to-end management of internal audits covering both risk-based and compliance audits." According to the ministry, future upgrades will include deeper AI integration, advanced risk-scoring mechanisms, predictive analytics and intelligent audit planning tools to further improve governance and financial management across government programmes. (ANI)
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