CAG pushing the envelope, says Vinod Rai

National chief auditor Vinod Rai admitted that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) was ‘treading a new path’. Addressing a meet at the Harvard Kennedy School (USA), Rai said that CAG is ‘pushing the envelope’ but he added that this was being done with public interest in mind. Sanjib Kr Baruah reports.

National chief auditor Vinod Rai admitted that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) was ‘treading a new path’. Addressing a meet at the Harvard Kennedy School (USA), Rai said that CAG is ‘pushing the envelope’ but he added that this was being done with public interest in mind.

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“We have commenced pushing the envelope and going beyond hitherto practiced conventional and conservative methodology.”

“Since Indian democracy is maturing and the urban Indian middle class is becoming more involved in citizen’s affairs, we continue to tread the new path in the belief that the final stakeholder is the public at large.”

Rai admitted that they were being advised to stick to conducting mechanical auditing of accounts, but he felt that it was their duty to point out any discrepancies to the public.

CAG’s latest report on a 2008 farm loan waiver that has reportedly witnessed widespread anomalies including tampering of documents across the country also promises to be a potent instrument which the opposition will use against the government.