If we go back a little in recent past, we will find that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India had earned the displeasure of the previous government when it pointed out a number of serious irregularities in the execution of some major projects and decisions of the Government of India. But the CAG stuck to its official mandate and, in honest performance of its constitutional duties, defended the provisions of the Constitution of India. Experience shows that when arrogant governments get cornered for their advertent or inadvertent administrative lapses, they react perilously to the extent of jeopardizing the democratic institutions of the country. Honest and efficient watchdog mechanism is the pre-requisite of democratic dispensation. The theory of checks and balances with which political scientists are very familiar, is implementable in more than one way. CAG exactly performs that role provided it is honest and dedicated to the service of the State and the nation.
It is the job of the CAG to find out and highlight irregularities and this has not to be taken as a hostile stance by the governments concerned. Democratic governments have to take the critical reports of the CAG as path finder and not as obstruction. CAG does not seek to perform the role of the opposition in the Parliament but, of course, it supplements the criticism of the opposition by producing facts and figures and data and statistics that are official and convincing. Having brought it to the notice of the government, the CAG moves ahead and does not stop to find what happened to the government as the opposition would.
The report of the CAG on the Leh Air Force Station runway is an example in sight. Its report has brought out how irresponsibly government functionaries at various levels have been in handling the issue of resurfacing of the Leh airport runway. A certain fault was detected in the runway as far back away as 2006 and now eight years down the line the fault has not been corrected while almost double the estimated amount has been spent from time to time and in installments. It is a sordid story on the part of the engineers, contractors and concerned functionaries to put forward excuse after excuse for not removing the fault and making the air strip safe for the fighter airplanes to land and take off.
The Defence Ministry, which is in control of the Leh airport, shall have to take stock of things in right earnest and cut short the complicated and time consuming process of resurfacing the air strip. This task cannot be left to the whims of contractors and the pleasure of engineers. Moreover, one gathers from the CAG report on the subject that the Engineering staff deployed on the task was not really qualified for doing the job. If they are holding some senior positions, that does not necessarily make us sure that they are capable of delivering the goods. The Defence Ministry shall have to requisition the services of highly qualified and experienced engineers to take up; the job. It must also re-examine whether the contracting company that has undertaken the project has the requisite potential to deliver.
Actually the thinking and work culture at the Defence Ministry needs to be revolutionized. Read between the lines, the CAG report does not brush aside the possibility of an element of corruption in the Leh Air Force Station air strip resurfacing project. It is for the Ministry to conduct ministerial level inquiry and find out the reason why after a lapse of eight years and spending nearly fifty crore rupees the Leh air strip is sill incomplete and unserviceable.
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