Defence sector should be accountable to Parliament: CAG

CAG Vinod Rai Saturday said except for a few "high octane" cases the armed forces have a "near perfect" image, but advocated accountability of the defence sector to Parliament as it uses public money and does not exist in isolation.

Delivering the Admiral RD Katari memorial lecture here on 'Good Governance-Accountability and Probity in the Armed Forces', Rai said the argument for secrecy in the defence sector should not be a pretext for avoiding public criticism and accountability.

"Defence sector does not exist in isolation. It uses public money and must be accountable to the Parliament. Oversight of functioning of government offices which use public resources is the fundamental requirement of any democratic institution," the Comptroller and Auditor General of India said.

On the argument that defence is a sensitive subject and its functioning should not be put in public domain, he said, "The extent of confidentiality must be balanced."

"Lack of transparency in any establishment, allows corruption, fraud and abuse of power. On the other hand openness facilitates accountability and it prevents adhocism in the decision making process," he said.

However, the CAG said, "Barring a few high octane cases which were highlighted by the media, the defences forces enjoy a near perfect image."

On defence acquisition process, which involves multiplicity of agencies, he said, "Defence acquisition process involves at least 13 different agencies in multiple layers. It is granted that the procurement process involves multiplicity of agencies... I can assure that the entire procurement hierarchy is sensitized towards your urgency."

He said the acquisition process often gets delayed because of the uninformed queries about which the bureaucrats are not sensitized nor about the urgency and criticality of the requirements.

Rai said the defence establishment needs to be more transparent today as a huge volume of information is going into the public domain, empowering the common man who is interested in issues related to national security.

Terming credibility of armed forces a matter of public faith, he said, "Particularly after some of the terrorist attacks, people want to know whether the resources invested in defence activities are being used efficiently and effectively in protecting the security interest of the nations."

Observing that transparency will help in building public confidence, he said, "Insulating activities and processes of armed forces will only impair their credibility. While, transparency will give independent professional review and feedback from the civil society. Most importantly, it will help build public confidence and win trust of the public.

On perception that auditing is a fault-finding exercise, the CAG said, "This perception is flawed. I will look to this perception as an alibi to non-performance. Such mindset needs to be changed."

Citing the necessity of auditing, he said, "An oversight mechanism is an integral process of institution building. Auditing is an equal partner is the decision making process and our objective is the same."

Appreciating the "well laid out" Defence Procurement Procedure, he said, "I have seen the DPP, its very detailed and very extensive. Time lines have been very extensively laid out."

On granting financial powers to defence force chiefs, he said, "As per my opinion, I would say that give it to the chiefs. Don't ask for any other approval. But we have built a system of frequent checks and balances."

On whether CAG plans to audit the private sector, he said, "Certainly not. Our doctrine for private sector is absolutely robust."