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Kharge bats for CAG's primacy in auditing GST, defence deals, demonetisation
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SME Times News Bureau | 11 Oct, 2018
In the backdrop of controversies surrounding significant government
decisions, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said
constitutional authorities like the CAG should not fail in holding the
government accountable for decisions such as demonetisation, GST and
defence purchases.
His remarks came amid Congress twice
petitioning the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) for
auditing the Rafale deal which it claims is a scam that caused huge loss
to the public exchequer.
Kharge, who is also Public
Accounts Committee chairman, also made a veiled attack on former CAG
Vinod Rai who had computed that the alleged 2G scam led to a presumptive
revenue loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.
Addressing
the 29th Conference of Accountants General, Kharge pointed to the
crisis-hit Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) and
supported the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) auditing
public private partnership (PPP) projects.
"The public should not
be left wondering why constitutional authorities are failing to hold
the government accountable to decisions that cause severe economic
distress such as demonetization or GST or decisions that involve huge
amounts of public money like defence purchases," he said.
"Unless
the government is forced to spell out the outcomes when it launches its
schemes, no one would be able to hold it accountable. We have seen how
governments shift the goalposts, once failures become apparent. For
example, during demonetisation, the government kept changing what the
objective of the scheme was," said the Congress leader.
"It is
time that the government is made accountable for the outcomes of its
schemes," he said welcoming the CAG introducing "Outcome Based Audit"
under which the auditor will assess the results of government's various
policies and scheme.
"There are a few in the government who look
upon the CAG as someone who does "post-mortem analysis" and acts as a
hindrance to decision making. This should not deter the CAG from holding
the government accountable," said Kharge.
"As a constitutional
body, the CAG's reports should not be based on presumptions or
assumptions that cast aspersions on other public servants. A populist
report that seeks to build reputation of one institution by undermining
public's faith in another would serve neither," said Kharge whose party
had demanded Rai to apologise after a court acquitted all the accused in
the 2G case.
He also expressed his reservation over the CAG
coming out with hundred reports annually saying most of them suffer from
little publicity, unless there is a political interest in a report.
Kharge
said new challenges were emerging for the CAG in cases of PPP projects
where public money is used to "privatise profits but socialise losses".
"The
PAC has always been keen that PPP projects come under the CAG. Recent
events with respect to IL&FS or LIC show how PPP models without
oversight can put the country's financial system at risk," he added.
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