New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the CAG office on the occasion of the first Audit Diwas. PM Modi also addressed the event shedding light on how CAG has been an important part of the country for generations.
PM Modi said, "here are very few institutions that become stronger, more mature & more relevant with the passage of time. Most institutions lose relevance after some decades. But CAG is a heritage & every generation should cherish it. It's a huge responsibility."
Speaking at the Audit Diwas event of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), he said in the past information was transmitted in form of stories.
"History was written through stories. But in the 21st century, data is information and in coming times our history will be looked through and understood using data. In the future, data will be dictating the history," he said.
He went on to list reforms such as contactless customs, automatic renewals, faceless assessments and online applications for service delivery, that have ended unnecessary government interventions.
"When transparency is brought in the system, results are visible," he said adding India is the world's third-largest ecosystem for startups and already has 50 unicorns.
He said documents, data and files sought by the national auditor, CAG should be provided by government departments.
Strong, scientific audits will make the system strong and transparent, he said adding his government has taken CAG's concerns on fiscal deficit and state expenditure in the right spirit.
Appreciating CAG's new practice of sharing preliminary findings with government departments before the beginning field audits, he said the combination of the two will give better results.
PM also said that the centre took brave decisions of monetising unused and under-used elements. He further stated, "As a result of those decisions we have a reviving economy - that is being discussed & welcomed across the world."
Lauding CAG and siting its significance in the working of government, PM Modi said, "while assessing the work of the Govt, CAG has the advantage of an outsider viewpoint. We make systematic improvements with the help of whatever you tell us, we see it as cooperation."
Taking a jibe at the previous governments, PM Modi said that there was a time when an audit was seen with suspicion and fear. CAG vs Govt became the common mindset of our system. Sometimes officials used to think that CAG sees faults in everything. But today mindset has been changed. Today audit is considered an important part of value addition.
PM said, "But we presented the reality of the previous governments, the actual situation, honestly before the nation. We will be able to find out a solution only if we identify the problems."
The Prime Minister then said that due to the lack of transparency in the country's banking sector earlier, various practices used to take place. As a result, banks' NPAs kept increasing. PM said, "You know very well the work done to brush the NPAs under the carpet earlier."
He further said that data is information and it will dictate history in the future as he exhorted for strong and scientific audits to make systems strong and transparent.