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Patna,(BiharTimes): Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday demanded that the functioning of the constitutional office like that of the CAG must be reviewed as an institution should grow in tandem with the changing times.
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Speaking at the concluding function of the 150th year celebrations of the foundation of the CAG office he said even the National Commission to Review the Constitution had suggested change in the functioning of the constitutional institutions.
Perhaps peeved over the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)’s reports against the Bihar government over the AC-DC bills the deputy chief minister said the nation must also debate what should be the qualification of a CAG and criterion for his appointment, which are currently not clear. The CAG’s office should also be subjected to external audit, a system prevalent in United Kingdom.
He also demanded a debate on whether the CAG should be a multi-member institution or not.
Modi, who also holds the finance portfolio, said the coverage area of CAG had expanded with the new trend of public-private partnership and the panchayati raj system. In such a situation, the government and the CAG should desist from interfering in each other’s domain. He also suggested legal power to the CAG, and lauded its role in exposing several scams.
Modi explained that the state government had made changes in the existing Treasury Code and the Finance Rule to overcome the problem of timely clearance of AC-DC bills. The post of finance adviser has been created in each department for timely clearance of AC-DC bills.
Speaker of Bihar Assembly Uday Narain Choudhary, while speaking on the occasion, said the CAG has been playing an important role in maintaining check and balance. He, however, asked why the CAG gave more importance to financial functioning of the executive and the legislature, while it remained silent on judiciary. He also said the CAG must arrange for effective auditing of panchayats.
Principal AG P Dinaraj countered Modi by stating that the system of external audit has been prevalent since long in the CAG. Currently the CAG office is being audited by Australia’s CAG.
Accountant General (AG) I D H Dhariwal said completion of 150 years is a historic moment for the CAG office.
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