New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS): Amid a controversey over the manner in which the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) examined the allocation of 2G spectrum, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday said the institution was fulfilling its constitutional duties and "we should compliment" its work.
"We should compliment the CAG's work," Mukherjee said in his address on the 150th anniversary of the country's official auditor.
He said the CAG has helped in curbing corruption and promoting good governance by discharging its duties effectively.
"We have a very competent and accountable auditor," Mukherjee said, adding the CAG has helped in keeping the bureaucracy or the third pillar of democracy in the right direction.
The minister said the government was working on the proposal to amend the CAG Act of 1971 to make the role of the auditor more effective.
Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, in his report on the 2G specturm allocation, said then telecom minister A. Raja had caused a presumptive loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crore by not auctioning the scarce airwaves.
This was contested by R.P. Singh, former director general of audit (Post and Telecom), who said the figure was only Rs.2,645 crore.
On Tuesday, it was alleged that Murli Manohar Joshi, the head of the Public Accounts Committee that is examining the CAG report, had put pressure on Rai to speed up his report.
Rai flatly denied this Wednesday.