SHILLONG: The annual reports of the Comptroller General of India (CAG), which expose several lacunae in governance, have failed to make any impact on the state. In the 2017 report, it had revealed several anomalies and loss of revenues due to the various commissions and omissions of the government departments. The CAG reports are also ritually reproduced by the media to highlight the importance of the issues which need correction. However, sources said that the government had often failed to take corrective steps in addressing the issues flagged by the CAG.
The normal process is that after the reports are tabled in the Assembly, the Public Accounts Committee of the Assembly scrutinised some reports and recommend suggestions and remedial measures. However, in reality, the suggestions are not followed up by the government, thereby repeating the mistakes in future.
Additional Chief Secretary P W Ingty said the government departments do take seriously the reports and take corrective steps. Cabinet Minister Lahkmen Rymbui pointed out the case of 2G scam and hinted at exaggerations at times by the CAG. He pointed out that fault finding is also necessary for a healthy democratic system so that the government can follow up on the findings. In the past, the CAG officials had said their duty was to forward the reports to be tabled in the Assembly and it was up to the government to take further course of action. They had also hinted that besides the officials, if any citizen is aggrieved, FIRs can be lodged with the police on the findings of the CAG report.