-Outlook The Comptroller and Auditor General has slammed Railways for not effectively implementing Railway Board's guidelines for mechanised cleaning of major stations and not taking effective pest control measures in coaches. Besides the audit body has observed that Railways has failed to provide good quality of linen to passengers which has resulted in increased passenger dissatisfaction. "There was lack of synchronisation between guidelines of Railway Ministry on maintenance of cleanliness and availability of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With CAG reports on 2G and Coalgate scams hounding the UPA-2 regime, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday said the federal auditor was not equipped to carry out performance evaluation. While the UPA had targeted CAG for "exceeding its jurisdiction" by venturing into policy domain, Ahluwalia took the fight to another level by arguing that the performance audit carried out by the auditor...

-The Hindu Unlike many countries that have passed laws to protect citizens' privacy, the Indian state is collecting more and more information about private individuals under various pretexts and restricting their right to access their own information Does a serving employee of a premier intelligence agency have the right to inspect his own biodata which that agency handed over to another public authority? Then again, does a former employee of that agency...

-PTI PATNA: MGNREGA has not gained momentum in Bihar as the percentage of household provided 100 days employment ranged from one to seven per cent during 2007-12, according to a CAG report submitted to the state assembly today. A performance audit on MGNREGA found that Bihar was deprived of grant of Rs 9684.24 crore during 2007-12 in the shape of central share due to less creation of mandays, sharp increase in demand...

-The Hindu Bangalore: Large-scale irregularities - running to over Rs. 650 crore - has been detected in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) across the State in the last five years in an audit conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The audit report states that the possibility of fraud cannot be ruled out, as about 63.80 lakh individuals identified as ineligible for employment were...