Girish Chandra Murmu re-elected as WHO's external auditor with overwhelming majority: All about the CAG

Comptroller and Auditor General Girish Chandra Murmu was re-elected with overwhelming majority as the external auditor of the World Health Organisation (WHO) from 2024 to 2027. He currently has this position for a four year term and will serve till 2023. 

The CAG said in a statement, "The present election was held on May 29, 2023 in the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, where the CAG of India was re-elected with an overwhelming majority (114 out of 156 votes) in the first round of voting itself." Seventy-nine votes were required for the majority. 

"Congratulations CAG, India! World Health Assembly re-elects Comptroller and Auditor General of India Shri Girish Chandra Murmu as the External Auditor of @WHO for 2024-27. 114 Member States out of 156 States present and voting reposed their trust in CAG, India," the Indian Mission in Geneva tweeted.

WHO IS CAG GC MURMU? 

Girish Chandra Murmu, born on November 21, 1959 in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, is an IAS of Gujarat cadre, 1985 batch. He has a degree in Political Science from Utkal University in Odisha, and an MBA degree from the University of Birmingham. 

Before assuming office as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on August 8, 2020, Murmu was the first Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. 

He had served in various capacities in the Indian government including Secretary of the Department of Expenditure, Special and Additional Secretary in the Department of Financial Services and Department of Revenue, and Joint Secretary in the Department of Expenditure. 

Before his tenure at the Centre, Murmu had served in the Gujarat government and has a wide experience in administrative, economic and infrastructure fields. 

The re-election as WHO’s external auditor is his second major international audit assignment following his selection for the post of external auditor (2024-2027) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva in March 2023.

The CAG is a member of the United Nations Panel of External Auditors as well as the governing boards of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and ASOSAI. He chairs the INTOSAI Knowledge Sharing Committee, its working group on IT audit, and the Compliance Audit Sub-Committee.

CAG Murmu is married to Dr Smita Murmu, and they together have a daughter, Ruchika, and son, Ruhaan. 

(With agency inputs)

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