Appalled at brazenness of govt in taking decisions, says CAG

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, whose reports on irregularities in coal block allocations and 2G spectrum issue had caused a political storm, today deprecated the "brazenness" with which the government was allegedly taking decisions.

"The brazenness (with which) decisions were being taken is actually appalling...", he said speaking at the World Economic Forum meet here. Rai, however, noted that with the Right to Information Act, administrative and political executive have become conscious that they "will have to be answerable".

The CAG also sought constitutional status for agencies like the CBI and CVC to make them effective instruments for fighting corruption. "... If you really want some of these institutions to deliver, you must take a risk and... take courage to make them constitutional," he said. "If Lokpal is expected to function with autonomy... you will have to guarantee a constitutional mandate," he added.

The CBI, he said, "is not independent of executive (and) that's why... everybody writes... that CBI has become the handmaiden of the government in power. Look at CVC...(It) is another body much feared, much maligned... but still a statutory body."

Replying to questions on the way CAG's assessments were being questioned by the government and other agencies, Rai said: "Nobody faulted us on facts...This (loss figure) is debatable... if it is not Rs 1.76 (lakh crore), it may Rs 1.6 (lakh crore) or may be Rs 2.6 (lakh crore)".

Reacting to Rai's remarks, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said: "If he talks about brazenness in decision-making and if it refers to the time period of this particular government, I think it would be worth his while to recall that he was part of the same government from 2004 to 2008. And I guess when he talks about brazenness, that paradigm equally applies across the board to everyone who was part of the government."

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