Watch this Watchdog

Over the last five years, there has been a systemic slowdown in the submission of CAG reports. Critics wonder if the government’s fiscal strength and management is being assessed at all or not

- Shivanand Pandit

THE performance of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has come under scrutiny. According to an RTI application, the audit regulator has stayed predominantly dormant over the last five years as the number of reports brought out by it has decreased severely. This has given rise to numerous concerns about the government’s fiscal responsibility, which is not coming under CAG’s scrutiny.

CAG reports pertaining to Union ministries and departments came down from 55 in 2015 to just 14 in 2020, a drop of almost 75 percent. According to the RTI reply, in the last few years, defence audit reports prepared and tabled in Parliament have also fallen. In 2017, eight reports were tabled in Parliament and in 2020, it was zero. Unfortunately, the story of railway audit reports was also the same. In 2017, five reports were tabled in Parliament and in 2020, it was only three.

CAG was formerly called the Constitutional Authority in India and founded in 1858 under Article 148 of the Constitution. It serves as a watchdog and reveals financial performance and compliance reports of the government of India. Its chief duty is to audit or inspect the expenditure of public money. CAG is expected to keep an eye on the financial responsibility of audited entities.

Its responsibilities include scrutinising the legitimacy, authenticity, regularity, propriety, economy, efficacy and effectiveness of the government’s financial management. It is a huge institution with more than 40,000 employees across India.