Keep it factual

Like a mild-mannered accountant turned superhero,the office of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India has suddenly become the face of Indias battle with public corruption. The CAG is constitutionally mandated to audit the revenues and expenditures of the Union and state governments,and it has been an impressively professional institution through the decades,playing a vital role in keeping government transparent. Of late,however,given the national mood of strong recoil against corruption,every announcement by the CAG has become a media event,with any observation seized for its potential to fell a political adversary.

Those reading these reports tend to leap to large conclusions and our lack of literacy about words like overrun and indictment further agitates public discourse. Instead of being sober audits of government receipts and expenditures,CAG reports are being brandished by political parties whether the BJP crying itself hoarse over the Commonwealth Games transactions or the Congress using it as a tool against Mayawati. Given the intense polarisation in Parliament,even passing,technical mentions can be twisted out of context and used as political ammo. Even Parliaments Public Accounts Committee,to whom the CAG submits its findings,has been knocked about in this political tussle. It doesnt help that several of the CAGs newsmaking reports,and their wider interpretation,tend to blur the lines between policy,procedure and malfeasance. After all,auditors cannot enter into administrative decisions and trace blame to individual actions,without a sophisticated understanding of each department and enterprise like civil aviation or sports events and its spending choices. Their reports must,therefore,be meticulously worded,leaving minimal room for misreading.

Given the CAGs stature,it must be wary of being used as a tool for political point-scoring. It should also be cautious about straying into commenting on policy,which remains the prerogative of democratic governments. Instead of stepping in with advice on sensible spending to Mayawati or how to rationalise freight and passenger tariffs to the railway ministry or criticising the Indian coast guard for its unpreparedness during 26/11,the CAG might do better to concentrate on its own constitutional remit.