Are govt schemes really working? CAG now has a new tool to track and find out

Are government schemes really working in India the way they should? There is a now a tool to ascertain the true impact of government spending and the delivery of schemes.

The country's government auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), is using a new digital tool to improve transparency and accountability in public spending.

The tool, called the Open Data Kit (ODK) platform, allows the CAG to collect and manage data securely. It works in integration with the auditor’s operating system, OIOS, ToI reported on January 2.


The CAG recently used the ODK toolkit to assess patient satisfaction at two hospitals: AIIMS Mangalagiri in Guntur and AIIMS Bibinagar in Hyderabad. According to the ToI report (by Pradeep Thakur), this information was gathered as part of a performance audit.

The CAG explained the use of beneficiary surveys: “Beneficiary survey is one of the sources of information for audit planning as well as for collection of audit evidence. It is used to collect information for identifying problem areas warranting additional review.”

The toolkit also enables surveys in multiple languages simultaneously.

It may be noted here that the term 'toolkit' had recently gotten much negative coverage in India with political parties associating its use for mainly spreading fake news.