Kharge for CAG audit of DeMo, GST, defence purchases

The CAG should not shy away from holding the government accountable for decisions like demonetisation, GST that has caused serious economic distress, and defence purchases, PAC Chairman and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said Wednesday.

He also made a case for audit of public private partnership (PPP) projects by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) saying that developments surrounding IL&FS reveal that lack of scrutiny can put the country's financial system at risk.

Speaking at the 29th Accountants General Conference here, Kharge pitched for greater independence for the official auditor CAG so that it could continue to discharge its duties with greater responsibility.

As a watchdog of public finance, CAG has a duty to check and report all revenue dues and the ones wrongly foregone by the executive, and also act as a custodian to ensure that no government money is spent without the approval of Parliament.

"The public should not wonder why constitutional authorities are failing to hold governments accountable for decisions that cause serious economic distress such as demonetisation, GST or decisions that involve a huge amount of public money, like defence purchases," said the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament.

Opposition Congress has raised questions over the Rs 58,000-crore Rafale jet fighter deal and has demanded a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

He said 'outcome based auditing' by CAG would make the government of the day accountable.

Referring to the decision to demonetise high denomination currency notes in November 2016, he accused the government of shifting goal posts and changing the objective of demonetisation.

"Unless the government is forced to spell out the outcomes when it launched its schemes, no one would be able to hold it accountable. We have seen how government shifts goal posts once failures become apparent. For example, during demonetisation the government kept changing the objective of the scheme," Kharge said