The news agency PTI on Sunday said that it stood by its report quoting Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office V. Narayanasamy as having said that converting the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) into a multimember body was under consideration of the government, notwithstanding his subsequent denial.
In the course of an interview with PTI, Mr. Narayanasamy was asked about the recommendation made by the former CAG, V.K. Shunglu, that the CAG should be made multi-member body.
He replied, “It [Shunglu panel’s suggestion to make CAG a multimember body] is under active consideration. The government is actively considering it.” The Minister subsequently appeared to backtrack and told television channels that he was “misquoted.” He told the channels that he had told the PTI reporter that six reports of the Shunglu Committee were under government consideration.
“He [PTI reporter] did not specifically ask me about the CAG. I did not specifically reply to him about the CAG which he misquoted me saying that the government is considering making the CAG a multimember body. I did not say that,” the Minister claimed on Sunday.
Following are the excerpts of the PTI interview which was tape-recorded:
Question: Other than submitting six reports, they have written a letter to the Prime Minister in which he (Shunglu) has talked about changes in CAG that it should to be made multimember body instead of being one (member)...The recommendation is somewhere in the PMO.
Answer: No, no. It is under active consideration.
Q: Do you mean to say that government is considering...
A: (The minister interjected to say) Actively considering.
Q: So the CAG would be made a three-member body?
A: When a decision is taken, I will let you know. Both the things (CAG and detaching Chief Technical Examination wing of CVC) are under the consideration of the government. All the reports and separate recommendations that have been given for the statutory modifications of the bodies of the government of India are under the consideration of the government.
Keywords: V. Narayanasamy remarks, CAG office, PTI report
Well done, PTI. At least there are some people who stands by what they
has stated and that too with proof. It is not beyond belief that the
honorable MoS will say the recording has been doctored or will have a
set of congress spokespersons saying so!!
@Sekhar - Completely agree... This government is in a mess and is trying to get anybody and everybody out of the way whomsoever questions it. The zero-loss theory, 'Head to toe' comment on Mr Anna Hazare, the brazen transfer of Mr Khemka, and the recent portfolio change of Mr Jaipal reddy from petro ministry are striking examples to quote a few. Such is the state of affairs and it is not surprising that this arrogant government is mulling a multi-member CAG....
Congratulations to PTI for standing by its story. Normally, news agencies in india, which largely depend on government subscriptions for their existence, will not dare to question governent actions. Not only that, news agencies generally help the government in planting stories. But I am glad that times are changing and PTI has enough courage to say " no" to the government, that too to the PMO minister. Keep it up.
Wonder if the UPA govt will ever do honest. First, their inaction on all the mega scams including 2G, Coalgate. Then criticized constitutional authority like the CAG, who is honest and exposed the scam. Now, the next step is to make CAG ineffective by expanding the CAG members...Just like they are making JPC examination on 2G ineffective using its chairman, Chacko, who will insist on majority concurrence to inquire PM, FM.
Looks like UPA is not going to turn honest but planning to remain on its current track..
Very simple, PTI should play the recorded interview in the Twitter, and the cat will be out of the bag. These days, I read a lot more statements and later being denied. What a shame for democracy.
Why stop with CAG? The need of the hour is to make the PM a five
member body so that one of them can deliver something worthwhile.
The idea of making the constitutional bodies into multi-member committes is to make it toe the line of the Party in power. To clip the wings of T N Seshan, Election Commission was made a multi-member body. The reforms initiated by TN Seshan have been diluted in the course of time. Now with the number of scams unearthed by CVG, the Government is 'actively considering' to Mr Shunglu's proposals.
This Minister in the PMO has on many occasions made statements and denied them after specifically making such statements. He should not be allowed to occupy such a responsible position in the PMO's office
The tape record should be played before him and then recorded again to know his reaction.
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