Lucknow: A few recent reports based on findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General published in newspapers since May last have created a new image and put the supreme audit institution in the country in a different light.
In the light of reports on coal block allocation and allotment of spectrum which were submitted five years ago and which are still being discussed, the general impression was difference from what it is now.
And since latest report have social and human angles they are being discussed in some additional quarters– other than political and official circles.
“We had thought that the duties and powers of the CAG were limited to auditing of accounts of union and state governments” said an under-graduate student, Aman Kumar. He is not completely off the mark.
The article 149 of the constitutions says on duties and powers of the institution, ” the CAG will perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the union and states and of any other authority or body as may be prescribed by or under any law made by by parliament….. “.
The constitution of India has mandated it through articles 148 to 151 to promote accountability, transparency and good governance through high quality auditing.
But Aman Kumar and like him some others would like to see more reports on government’s failure on social and human fronts.
The recent report which has drawn more attention is related to food articles supplied to vendors at the stations and passengers in trains. The report is based on joint inspection by CAG and railway officials of 74 stations in different routes and 80 trains.
A Television channel headline, ” travel in train but carry your food” following publication of this report, is also widely remembered.
The report said, ” the food articles are unsuitable for human consumption….. contaminated and past the shelf life”.
Defence story based on the CAG report that ammunition with the army will not last more than a week is also most talked about.
A CAG report submitted in Uttar Pradesh assembly in May was a subject of debate in many quarters too. The team of the institution had found weapons available with state police obsolete. ” Luckily ( for them) they did not face any serious encounter with any Naxal or any unlawful group” , was a common joke then, one remembers.
Another May report had put Private Schools in the state on the mat. Private schools especially the popular ones charge exorbitant fees and that may be one of the reasons for some parents praising the report ( sadistic pleasure?).
In this report the CAG had said that the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act was being violated by most of the private schools in Uttar Prdesh . Admission of Divyang or socially weak children’s in 2015-16 was not even one per cent against 25 per cent quota fixed by the government.
Other two reports which are still fresh in memory of many are one related to King Geog’s Medical University in Lucknow and the other inadequacy of fund to douse forest fires in neighbouring Uttarakhand.
To its dismay the CAG had noticed that the laboratory in the university here had not checked any samples in six years between 2011 and 2016.
Though these have drawn large public attention, it is not yet known how much they have touched the state government. General belief is that no action has been taken against any body on the basis of these reports and that they are catching dust in the state secretariat.
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