CAG ensured efficiency in govt ops: Naidu

Vice president M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday lauded the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), saying its reports have led to changes in the regulatory framework, governance structures, and delivery mechanism and thereby ensured efficiency and effectiveness of the government’s operations.

“Today, the CAG has evolved as an enabler to Babasaheb’s [Bhimrao Ambedkar] vision that not only ensures public financial accountability but also acts as a friend, philosopher and guide of the executive,” he said while unveiling Ambedkar’s statue at the CAG office in New Delhi.

He said Ambedkar, as the Constitution’s architect, is one of the builders of the modern India, which mandates the CAG to promote accountability, transparency and good governance through high-quality auditing and accounting and provide independent assurance to stakeholders, the legislature, the executive and the public, that public funds are being used efficiently and for the intended purposes.

He said although the history of the audit department is almost 160-year-old, it was the Constitution that proved catalytic in transforming this organisation of the colonial era into the CAG of India as an independent pillar of Indian parliamentary democracy. “Today CAG is a strong and credible institution and the credit for this must go to the framers of our Constitution, particularly to Dr Ambedkar, who had the vision to ensure independence and wide mandate to the CAG.”

He said Ambedkar’s life and work have inspired the nation. Naidu added it is heartening to see that the core values of the CAG—independence, objectivity, integrity, reliability, professional excellence, transparency and positive approach—draw inspiration from Ambedkar’s life and work.

“For all the citizens of India, the Constitution remains a sacred book and a guiding beacon on all matters. We should salute the constitution-framers for their vision and statesmanship in giving us a constitution that laid a strong foundation for our parliamentary democracy and stood the test of times.”

Naidu said house members should “question themselves if they had acted to enhance the dignity of the institution or to the contrary at the end of each day during the session and if their conduct was ethical during the inter-session period”