15/1089-90,
VASUNDHARA, VASUNDHARA (P.O.), Dt. GHAZIABAD (U.P), PIN-201012
Website: www.auditflag.blogspot.com
Reference: AIA/Circular-24/2017 Dated:
30th October 2017
To
Unit
Secretaries,
Members
& Spl. Invitees – NE &
Members of
Women’s Committee
Dear
Comrades,
Courtesy
Meeting with CAG
The
courtesy meeting with CAG was held on 25th October 2017. Comrades
Tapas Bose, President and Anilkumar, Additional Secretary General were present
from our side, in addition to the Secretary General. From the official side
DAI, PD-Staff and AC(N) were also present.
Welcoming
CAG on behalf of the membership we expressed the fond hope that he would be
positively prompt in responding to the issues raised by the staff side just as
he has granted the courtesy meeting within a short time.
After
introduction, we presented the following issues
1. Strengthening Audit & Accounts
The CAG of India is the
‘watchdog of Indian finances’. Somewhere, the department has withdrawn from
this basic job. Performance Audit is given pre dominance over compliance audit,
drastically curtailing the basic public accountability responsibilities.
Reinforcing and strengthening of compliance audit with necessary manpower would
do justice to the mandate under the Constitution.
Restructuring of audit
put into effect from 1st April 2012 and rationalisation of staff
strength in audit offices done in 2016 may kindly be revisited so as not to
lose the basic character of the Department.
Audit of Panchayati Raj is
limited to offering technical guidance while PRI Accounts is totally kept away.
A vast area is kept out of CAG’s purview. This is an area where the Department
should take an active role. This may be done without further delay.
2. Augmentation
of Staff Strength
Per centage of audit is inversely
proportionate to the govt expenditure as well as expansion of government’s
functions.
The same holds good for staff
strength also. There is a drastic reduction in the man power position. Wide gap
in the age profile of personnel at lower level is alarming.
Along with revisiting the
rationalisation of staff strength in audit offices done in 2016, there is a
need to have a fresh approach – taking functional requirements and man power
mobility into account.
3. i) Need for new approach to Recruitment
As we conduct the audit of State
Governments and maintain accounts of state governments, knowledge of local
language is increasing becoming a must for efficient discharge of functions in
IA&AD.
The Recruitment of personnel by Staff
Selection Commission (SSC) doesn’t cater to our requirement, giving way to
undesirable situations in field offices.
It is necessary that IA&AD go for
recruitment of local people which in turn will ensure better functional output.
ii) Opening up of unilateral transfer
The present recruitment policy of SSC has
caused a situation where in vast majority of the personnel recruited are from
other states, who are eager to return to their home states.
The discontent amongst them is growing, as
unilateral transfer is not allowed in IA&AD, with the result that the
department is left with talented newly recruited personnel who are unhappy and
demoralised.
Regional Recruitment can help in opening up of
unilateral transfer bringing cheer to those talented youngsters by which the
Department would gain a lot.
4.
Functional facilities to Associations
The rules provide very little space to
employees to vent their grievances, but even that limited space is denied to
them many times.
There are instances where major deviations by
Heads of Departments at field level are overlooked and the employees responses
to such deviations are dealt with heavy hand.
Implementation of CCS (RSA) Rules, 1993 in
IA&AD itself was a major deviation from the original rules which needs
correction.
The blanket ban imposed on
demonstrations etc in the office premises denies the employees their minimum
right to express their grievances peacefully. The ban order on demonstrations
in the office premises needs to be undone. (Ministry of Labour & Employment
has very recently - vide letter dated 3rd July 2017 - upheld the
right of even unrecognized Association/Federation to hold demonstration to hold
meeting demonstrations etc “provided that such meetings shall not disturb
normal functioning of the unit/establishments…”).
The massive victimisation in the
aftermath of agitation on 8th April 2010 also may kindly be
revisited and undone. This will definitely give a positive message.
A
healthy discussion took place on strengthening Audit & Accounts and
expansion in LB audit and accounts and also on recruitment policy. CAG made
pointed queries on unilateral transfer and the victimisation on account of mass
casual leave on 8th April 2017.
A Clarification, to clear some genuine doubts
We are confronted with some
questions from some of the field units – now as well after the meeting with DAI
also. One query is about not raising the issue of grant of 5400 to AAOs on completion
of 4 years of service. Some of our comrades asked why this was not raised.
(This question came up after meeting with DAI also).
The reason is quite simple that no
purpose would be served by raising this issue with DAI or CAG as the issue is
not in their hands. CAG can only recommend, it is the Govt that would take the
final call – to be precise it is the Department of Expr that would have the
final say.
To tell CAG that his recommendations
are not honoured by the government is to belittle the CAG – it is as good as
telling the CAG that you are not respected or counted by the Govt. It may make
some of our unsuspecting members happy that we have told CAG so. But it will not
help us, rather it may not be taken well by CAG and his administration. (They
may feel that we are suspecting their sincerity).
We know that CAG administration has
done its best in pursuing the issue of extension of the higher pay scale (Pay
Matrix 9) to AAOs of IA&AD and other organised Accounts on completion of 4
years of service.
As regards the pay scales (of any
cadre or section of employees in any Deptt), it is DOPT and more than that
Deptt of Expr that has got the veto power.
We do assiduously work through
various channels to get to the target and till we are sure that we are upto the
target we don’t publicise it. We don’t play to gallery.
The issues taken with CAG
The
issues that we raised with CAG are of importance to the Department as well as
to the personnel working in the Department. We raised the issue of audit
restructuring done 2012, its ill effects on personnel, recorded our
disagreement on the rationalisation of staff strength in audit offices, need
for expansion of audit and accounts by strengthening our reach in audit of LB
audit and taking over LB accounts citing the huge money involved in the area and
the need of ensuring public accountability etc.
The increase in quantum of audit and
accounts will alone ensure better promotional prospects to all cadres. We will
have to approach the issue of cadre restructuring in IA&AD with that
perspective.
Cadre restructuring is not only about
asking for pay scales that has been denied to us so far. Nor we are going to
reach anywhere by just raising a demand. To get higher pay scales we will have
to mobilise the entirety of IA&AD personnel and agitate.
Cadre restructuring should also
involve the correlation of cadres and functions and much more. When we submit a
proposal on cadre restructuring we should have a vision of what the IA&AD
should be and what role the personnel would have – including promotional avenues.
(The HQr is working out on such proposals; hope to circulate it within a
month’s time).
Unless the recruitment policy
undergoes a change and number of posts goes up, the unilateral transfer of the
new recruits would remain a demand, rhetoric, rather a dream of the young lot.
In the first meeting with CAG, we
tried to present the basic demands on which we should and would build up a
movement that would ensure time bound promotion to all, local recruitment and
unilateral transfer etc.
Any presentation, demand would be of
any sense only when it is pursued organisatioally i.e. through agitations, mass
mobilisations. Any other route opted by anybody is nothing but fooling the
members and tantamount to treachery. It is just like selling dreams without
doing anything to achieve those dreams.
Building up a movement on the above
issues depends on how effectively we communicate with our membership.
HQr is sure our that Unit leadership
would undertake the task seriously and start working on it.
With greetings,
Yours fraternally
M. S. Raja
Secretary General
