Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai and Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi took part in a panel discussion at the Business Standard Awards ceremony. Edited excerpts:
Moderator: It is believed that during difficult times, national institutions come to the fore and underline the strength of the system. From that perspective, I want to ask the election commissioner why can’t we build on the good work that is done while conducting an election?
We have been able to do this because of the wisdom of our Constitutional framework and also, I dare say, because of the politicians. The Acts they have passed, the power and independence they gave us, and the model code of conduct, which is not a law but a voluntary code created by political parties for themselves. I would say hats off to the politicians. You can’t love democracy and hate politicians.
The other favourite whipping boy is the bureaucrat. But bureaucrats have been delivering a perfect election, which shows that they are competent. There are some bad eggs that can be sorted through electoral reforms. But we need to trust our political leadership and bureaucrats.
Moderator: My next question will be to the CAG. Do you think that this period in the history of the CAG will be looked back upon the way in which TN Seshan’s period in the election commission was seen? How do you view this with respect to what is happening now and things that will happen in the future?
Moderator: Both of you have faced criticisms that you have gone too far. In case of the election commission, the criticism is that you freeze the government for several weeks while for CAG, there are issues about policies being examined and audited for a long time. Do you feel that you are pushing the boundaries and are there any risks in this process of push-back?
Vinod Rai: In our case, the process is to hold the executives accountable to the legislature. The legislature, which represents all of us, votes the budget; the budget is passed; the executives implement it and spend the money. Whether that money has been spent in the way it was meant to be, I think, the man on the street deserves to know since it has been compulsorily taken away from his pocket through taxation. They need to know if it was spent efficiently for the best possible objective. We are in the process of verifying whether it is effective and economical.
SY Quraishi: If there is a feeling that because of the election commission everything has come to a standstill, I would like to say that it is a myth. A single phase election process is on maximum for 45 days, it can be a week less also. That is the time when we enforce model codes. The only thing it disallows is new schemes or promises. The direction is very clear that all the on-going schemes will go on. It is wrong if a government, which has been in power for four years and eleven months, does not have bright ideas and those ideas only strike them on the eve of the election.
Last year at the time of election, petrol prices had to be reduced. That is something, which can be taken as a measure to gain votes. But as per the procedure the petroleum ministry wrote to us seeking permission and we saw that it was in the national interest and gave permission. None of the political parties opposed. I will give you an example to illustrate quick decision making. Last year I was strolling in the garden when I got a call from the cabinet secretary. He said (finance minister) Pranab Mukherjee wants to announce raising the size of development fund for each member of Parliament from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore. I said go ahead, on the phone. It was a Rs 3,000 crore decision and I did not realise that it was going to be announced half an hour later. When I saw it on my iPad, it occurred to me that I did not get okay from my two colleagues. I called up the cabinet secretary and told him to send me a (formal) note on this. It was Friday and he said he will send it on Monday. The letter came on Monday with retrospective effect. That is the kind of decision making we have.
Moderator: Do governments co-operate when you are doing an audit? Is there a resistance?
Vinod Rai: Certainly they do. I have not encountered resistance or reluctance of any kind. It is only a question of time. I have often said that the auditor is not given the power that the man on the street has today. If today you were to ask me a question through Right to Information (RTI) Act and enquire how many times I have travelled abroad in 2011, I will have no option but to give an answer in 30 days. But if I as an auditor ask the same question to Quraishi he may give the answer in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or may not give an answer at all. That is the only difficulty we have. There is no timeline fixed within which we will get a response from the department that we are auditing.