Destroyed introspection report still baffling CAG staff

Shimla : The much talked about report, on the ethical issues in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department written by a former Director General of the National Academy of Audit and Accounts here, that was released a few months ago and was withdrawn in a huff later, is baffling hundreds of middle and lower rung employees in the CAG offices all over the country. The employees are questioning its withdrawal and those who have not seen it are even apprehensive that it contained some staggering information and the inside story of corruption in the IAAS.

Since the report had erupted from the IAAS academy at “Yarrows” from a picturesque suburb of Shimla a cross-section of the strong employees’ body has started doubting the functioning of its top most Centre from where the decisions were taken, policies were made and also their own integrity was questioned in the recently brought out report.

“But the report was not directed against only a section of auditing employees or was not prepared by the top officials and above all had no specifics”, said the top Academy sources. The report which was meant for internal use only was compiled by Mr S.B. Pillay who is now Deputy Additional CAG and earlier the DG of Academy in Shimla, they said.

The service introspection report made on the experiences of senior most officers of the IAAD has clearly admitted that corruption has seeped in at all levels including the group A and urgent steps are needed to check this menace. Directions were suggested to all the State PAG and AG offices to tackle it with local initiatives instead of waiting for some structural changes in the organisational setup at the headquarters level.

The selective or the partial information content reaching down has created confusion in the cadres, said the employees. Instead the report should have been made public if it was really meant for introspection, they said. The amount of money spent on bringing out this glossy booklet, the name of printing press and publishers should also have been disclosed before it was destroyed forever, said the PAG employees who are auditing the entire socio-economic system of the country but were deprived of questioning their own expenses.

The employee representatives when questioned on the internal corruption of auditors submitting false TA/DA claims, false receipts, vouchers and favours paid by the auditees, as pointed out in the report, they said the needs of auditors should be well looked after by the government and their allowances should be increased. The top officers, without wanting to be quoted, also supported this demand and said major corruption at smaller audit levels can be checked by this.

The top echelons in the Academy while denying the allegations of any class bias towards lower stratum auditing parties also refuted any discrepancies going on in the day to day management of the so called “five star” academy here. The allegations of constructing a swimming pool for the IAAS officers and trainees and large scale green felling done for the purpose were also denied.

“We had taken a legitimate permission from the local authorities for cutting just four aged Oak trees for making a tennis court and the rest facilities like billiards, gymnasium and a squash court were present in the premises from the times of Mr Mohammad Ali Jinnah who was housed in Yarrows, before independence”, said an officer. The ancient structure was also the residence of former Finance Secretary of India.

KY Singh

KY Singh is a political observer and a senior journalist with an interest in a diverse set of issues related to Himachal Pradesh and other mountain states. He lives in Shimla.