Somnath wants Trai to be under CAG’s ambit
LOK Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today expressed his dismay over the repeated attempts by the Manmohan Singh government to stonewall efforts to bring regulatory bodies such as the Trai within the purview of the CAG
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: LOK Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today expressed his dismay over the repeated attempts by the Manmohan Singh government to stonewall efforts to bring regulatory bodies such as the Trai within the purview of the CAG.
���There are attempts to keep the regulatory bodies, whose decisions affect the government finances and the public in a significant manner, out of the CAG���s jurisdiction through statutory provisions such as the Trai Act,��� the country���s first Marxist Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said at a seminar organised here today by the CAG.
���We should be aware of the emerging risks of such efforts and must take suitable measures in the best interests of the country and the general public,��� Mr Chatterjee added.
The CPM, interestingly, has been engaged in a bitter campaign to seek the ouster of Trai chairman Pradip Baijal, with its leader in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Nilotpal Basu, spearheading calls for his removal.
Mr Basu had raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha during the winter session last year, and had even led a Left delegation to impress upon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to sack Mr Baijal and institute an inquiry into Trai���s decision to allow grey market calls, since it had refused to intervene even after the BSNL had approached the regulator.
Mr Basu had simultaneously accused the Trai of ���conniving��� with private telecom regulators in a way that led to a ���loss of public money��� and non-fulfilment of rural telephony commitments.
���There are attempts to keep the regulatory bodies, whose decisions affect the government finances and the public in a significant manner, out of the CAG���s jurisdiction through statutory provisions such as the Trai Act,��� the country���s first Marxist Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said at a seminar organised here today by the CAG.
���We should be aware of the emerging risks of such efforts and must take suitable measures in the best interests of the country and the general public,��� Mr Chatterjee added.
The CPM, interestingly, has been engaged in a bitter campaign to seek the ouster of Trai chairman Pradip Baijal, with its leader in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Nilotpal Basu, spearheading calls for his removal.
Mr Basu had raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha during the winter session last year, and had even led a Left delegation to impress upon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to sack Mr Baijal and institute an inquiry into Trai���s decision to allow grey market calls, since it had refused to intervene even after the BSNL had approached the regulator.
Mr Basu had simultaneously accused the Trai of ���conniving��� with private telecom regulators in a way that led to a ���loss of public money��� and non-fulfilment of rural telephony commitments.
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The Lok Sabha Speaker today seemed to concur with the views expressed by Mr Basu, as he made out a strong case for bringing regulatory bodies such as the Trai within the ambit of the CAG. Mr Chatterjee also flayed a suggestion that government companies should be taken out of the purview of the CAG���s audit.
���I view this with great concern as it dilutes the accountability of enterprises created out of public money,��� he said.
���In my view, a public sector corporation is not merely a profit maximising commercial entity. It is difficult for a private auditor carrying out a financial audit, to report comprehensively on the performance of a public sector corporation in respect of achievements of its social and other special objectives for which these may be set for it by the government,��� Mr Chaterjee added.
���Past history has shown that CAG���s audit of public sector enterprises has been able to identify major instances of mismanagement, waste and fraud, including material errors in accounts, which would have gone undetected, had the Company Law not empowered the CAG to carry out supplementary and test audit,��� the Lok Sabha Speaker said.
He also expressed concern that devolution of funds to the panchayat and local urban bodies is not scrutinised by CAG in most states at present.
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���I understand that CAG���s institution is the primary auditor only in the three states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, and in other states, CAG audits only those local bodies which fall under its audit purview,��� Mr Chatterjee remarked.He hailed the move by 18 major states to fully entrust audit of panchayats and urban local bodies to the CAG under the Technical Guidance and Supervision Scheme.
Mr Chaterjee felt that the accountability of NGOs, increasingly involved with the execution of public sector programmes, was another area of concern since they were ���not subject to audit by the CAG���.
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