CAG Officers' Transfers: Opposition Accuses Modi Government of 'Intimidation', 'Corruption'
Sravasti Dasgupta
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New Delhi: Opposition parties have accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of corruption after The Wire reported that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has transferred officers, including three who were coincidentally involved with and in charge of two audit reports that highlighted graft in the Ayushman Bharat Scheme and cost irregularities in the construction of Dwarka Expressway.
In a statement on Wednesday, Congress MP and general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh on X (formerly Twitter) accused the Narendra Modi government of “intimidation.”
“The Modi government operates mafia style under a cloak of silence and intimidation,” he wrote.
“If anyone exposes its modus operandi of corruption, they are threatened or removed. The latest victims are three officers of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), who exposed massive scams in government schemes in a report tabled during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.”
The CAG report on highway projects under the Implementation of Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I (BPP-1) found massive overrun costs in the Dwarka Expressway project and said that the National Highway Authority of India’s decision to opt for an elevated carriageway in the Haryana portion pushed up costs to Rs 250.77 crore per kilometre as against the approved cost of Rs 18.20 crore per kilometre.
The audit of Ayushman Bharat revealed corruption in insurance settlement claims. The report, among other findings, said that lakhs of claims continued to be made against people who had been shown as ‘deceased’ in the database.
Ramesh said that the Congress party demands that the transfer orders be cancelled immediately and that action be taken “on these mega scams relating to Dwarka Expressway, Bharatmala and Ayushman Bharat.”
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that with the transfers of these CAG officers, “Modi's real face is in front of the country. The one who gave the slogan of corruption free India has kept corruption in his lap,” the AAP tweet said in Hindi on X.
"Modi ji, if you have courage then instead of transferring these officers, get these scams investigated? Do you have the courage?”
Reacting to The Wire's report, TMC MP Jawhar Sircar said that the transfer orders come as the CAG is now being headed by “Modi’s closest secretary”.
“CAG officers who revealed Modi-Govt scams in Ayushman Bharat, Bharatmala, etc, transferred! And why not? Modi’s closest Secretary who saw him through Gujarat Riot Allegations is now his dear CAG! Only Opposition States will be targeted,” he said.
The CAG, Girish Chandra Murmu is a 1985-batch Gujarat cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, believed to be a trusted aide of both Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.
Prior to his appointment as the CAG in 2020, Murmu was the first Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir after was downgraded to a Union Territory in the aftermath of the dilution of Article 370. Murmu was also the principal secretary in the chief minister’s office when Modi helmed the state government in Gujarat.
The twelve CAG reports revealed corruption and irregularities in the functioning of several Union government ministries and departments. The Monsoon session of Parliament, where these reports were tabled, ended on August 11. The transfer orders were issued on September 12.
You can read the major findings of all twelve CAG reports in a three-part series by The Wire here, here and here.
This article went live on October eleventh, two thousand twenty three, at ten minutes past six in the evening.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.