No political pressure on CAG: V N Kaul

New Delhi, Feb 21 (UNI) Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vijayendra N Kaul today asserted that there was no political interference in the functioning of the Supreme Audit Institution and vowed to maintain ''the highest degree of independence, reliability and honesty'' in its functioning.

He admitted that corruption of an administrative nature could be prevalent at lower levels in the functioning of the institution but warned that anyone found guilty of indulging in such acts would be dealt with firmly.

''I have held the position of the CAG now for nearly five years.

No one has ever brought political pressure on me. If, however, occasionally a Minister from a state does suggest something to influence what he wants, then we give him a curt reply that this would not be accepted,'' Mr Kaul said in a more than hour-and-a-half- long interaction with the Forum of Financial Writers here.

Mr Kaul dwelt at length on the role of the CAG, how it performed the mammoth task of carrying out audit and accounts at the Centre and state levels and the quality of its personnel.

Mr Kaul said the pressure at the lower levels could entail removing a paragraph or so, but added that if any such incident same to notice it is dealt strictly and without impunity.

At the higher levels of course there have been no incidents of corruption and the quality of officers matched the best anywhere.

''We ensure that auditors fulfil their responsibility and observe the principles of maintaining the highest degree of independence, reliability, high quality, accuracy, clarity and honesty.'' ''Neither the Prime Minister nor any senior government functionary has ever told me anything,'' Mr Kaul said.

When pointed out that very little benefits filter down because of inadequacies at the implementation level, Mr Kaul said while he could not put a number to the extent of wastage in government expenditure, his impression was that efficiency of such expenditures was improving. He said there was improvement in project appraisal and designs of projects and things have come some way since when former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said of every Rs 100 spent, only Rs 14 reached the targetted people.

Stating that audit was a function of the level of economic development, Mr Kaul said in industrialised countries audit relating to transactions was not required to be done by the Supreme Audit Institution, but it has the overarching power of being a watchdog on the functioning of the government.

Mr Kaul said the CAG was now committed to having a more open policy relating to the media and outlined the steps that were being taken by it in this regard.

''I rarely give interviews to journalists. An authority like me which has a constitutional protection should not do this. In fact, I find the press picking up paragraphs from the reports which are in the nature of a fraud or mismanagement and highlighting this. It is not that I don't want to give interviews, but we as an institution should not be perceived to be taking sides. We have no axe to grind, except serving public interest,'' Mr Kaul said.

He stressed the need for a more open policy on media in the future and lauded the role which the press has played in disseminating information of critical import to the people.

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