The Comptroller and Auditor General of India Shashi Kant Sharma on Friday said the bureaucracy should not fear the audit if the decisions were transparent, correct and judicious. Sharma was interacting with the Indian Information Service (IIS) probationers here. “Public Services have become more citizen-centric and people expect better quality, timely delivery and efficient management in delivery of these services and bureaucracy should have no fear from Audit if the decisions are transparent, correct and judicious,” he said.
The CAG said that technological advances, social media and RTI have raised the aspirations of people and citizens are now becoming more alert and are demanding better governance and accountability. The instrumentalities of governance have changed as a large amount of money is now being spent through local bodies and PPP mode. Sharma said that expenditure in social sector can make a good impact on the socio-economic life of people if the money is utilised timely, efficiently and correctly.
“The CAG Institution is fully aware of these emerging situations and we would continue to play an important role in improving the governance and accountability,” Sharma said. He said the IIS Officers have a tremendous responsibility of publicising the government policies and programmes and citizen-centric projects should not take a back seat in their publicity efforts. Exhorting the young officers, he said that their training coupled with their rich & diverse academic record will enrich the IIS. The emergence of new media including social and digital media will be playing an important role in the communication strategies, Sharma said.