New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS): President Pranab Mukherjee said Wednesday the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is a link between the executive and the parliament and the people of India.

Addressing a group of 20 trainee officers of the Indian Audit and Account Service, including two from the Royal Audit Authority of Bhutan, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mukherjee said the CAG provides credibility to the government's operations.

"The CAG subjects the operations of the executive to regular, independent appraisal and review, thereby providing credibility to government operations," he said, adding that the officers can make "substantial contribution in better management of money and finances".

The president told the probationers that their organisation is the government's "conscious keeper" and their job is to "serve as the watchdog of the government".

Mukherjee said in a system of representative democracy, government institutions and its public service exist to serve the interests of the public.

He said the officers had joined a department whose history goes back to more than 150 years.

"In 1857, the general department of accounts was created and many decades later, the department has grown and strengthened its position in the governance framework of the country."

The trainee officers are undergoing 92 weeks professional training at the National Academy of Audit and Accounts, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.