The Comptroller and Auditor General of India(CAG) has expressed discontent for delayed or no submission of various information for audit of its various social welfare schemes operational in the state of West Bengal, reveals an RTI. According to a report in India Today, the RTI has revealed that the Mamata Banerjee government has not replied to repeated requests on this regard.
Article 151(1) and 151(2) of the Indian constitution, makes it mandatory for the central government and state government, respectively, to let CAG present its audits before the legislature. In other words, every state government has to comply with CAG and let it audit its various schemes relating to public and also assess its law and order.
In March, the governor of West Bengal had stated that CAG audits for the year 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 were not submitted on time in the legislative assembly and about pending ones, because of delay by the West Bengal government.
In August, this year Mamata Banerjee government had clearly disapproved of sharing reports with CAG regarding law and order in the state as it considered it to be an internal matter.
According to recent RTI, Mamta government refused to share details about e-procurement in various government departments and data for Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme launched under the Women and Child Development department, despite a letter and many reminders.
CAG in past has reminded Mamta government, that they are not outside the scope of the constitution. According to CAG, audit reports of West Bengal become even more important as it has 2.5 thousand kilometers of International borders, making it of paramount importance to national security.
In the past, CAG reports have helped agencies unearth various discrepancies in welfare schemes and unroll giant scams like Coal Scam and 2G spectrum scam.
While the constitution does not lay down definite time interval for submission of reports, Mamata Banerjee government can land in fresh trouble, if the government is dragged to court, for deliberate refusal to share information.
