Even as the Opposition parties' allegations of financial bungling in implementation of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in Uttar Pradesh have pushed the Bahujan Samaj Party regime on the back foot, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has warned that direct transfer of funds from the Central Government to the State's implementing agencies is “fraught with the risk of their improper utilisation by these agencies”. The CAG report...

-The Times of India   The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure security of its officials who would start probe into the alleged financial irregularities into the National Rural Health Mission. The CAG office has writen a letter to UP chief secretary and the principal secretary, health and family welfare, expressing concern over the security of its probe team, comprising 50 auditors in addition to...

Central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has put forth a compelling argument for placing public-private partnerships (PPPs) under the ambit of the Right to information (RTI) Act in an order passed earlier this week. Though the order pertains to a specific case in Delhi, it will have far reaching implications for the rest of the country. The Central Information Commission (CIC) recognizes PPPs as public bodies that must provide information under the...

The Comptroller and Auditor General has hauled up the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh for spending much more than the initially sanctioned amounts on construction activities at the Chief Minister's two dream parks, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Parivartan Sthal and Kanshiram Smarak Sthal, in Lucknow. In a report tabled in the UP assembly on Friday, CAG also said that it was unable to ascertain the "correctness" of the expenditure made on erecting...

-NDTV   The report of the government's auditor - the Comptroller and Auditor General - has been tabled in Parliament. Among those it faults for mismanagement are Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and the Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna. These are the highlights of the 800-page report:     * There are 33 audited entities; 33 chapters, 743 pages       * The unique challenge of monitoring activities of multiple agencies should have been met...