PAC wants CAG to audit Modi’s pet schemes, NITI Aayog

The newly revamped Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament is all set to play the role of Opposition against the Narendra Modi government.

At its first sitting on Tuesday, the panel advised the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to hold an independent audit of the NITI Aayog and the Centre’s pet schemes, including the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

The audit report will be debated in the PAC as soon as it is tabled in Parliament. Schemes such as the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart City project, Unnat Jyoti By Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA), and the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) will come under the auditor’s scanner.

Over the past three years, the PAC took up reports relating to the erstwhile UPA government. “Now, we have to scrutinise the present government. There was a demand at the meeting that all flagship schemes be audited,” a senior panel member told BusinessLine.

The proposed audit of NITI Aayog, too, is sure to attract attention. It was established in place of the Planning Commission. “Members wanted the CAG to do a performance audit of the Aayog to assess how successful the new system is,” the member, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

The panel had taken a serious view of the reports of anomalies in implementing the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan even in the Prime Minister’s constituency, Varanasi.

The CAG may carry out a performance audit of the scheme after contacting the ministries and State departments that oversee it.

The CAG will submit its reports on railway finance, the crop insurance scheme of the Agriculture Ministry and the functioning of the National Rural Health Mission in the monsoon session.

The CAG told members the NRHM audit was done using data analytics tools.

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