CAG: Governance is barrier in ease of urban mobility

New Delhi: Comptroller and Auditor General Sanjay K Murthy on Thursday said governance is the barrier behind failed urban mobility in the country. It is not for want of roads or rails but for want of systems that work together.

“The solutions are not unknown. London, Stockholm, and Singapore have demonstrated that congestion pricing, combined with strong public transport, can reduce traffic by 20-30%. The knowledge exists. The technology exists. What, then, is the cultural barrier?” the CAG asked as he recounted how we build metro lines that don’t connect to bus networks, we build flyovers that merely shift congestion.

The CAG was speaking at the inaugural of a two-day meeting of federal auditors of BRICS nations in Bengaluru, where participating countries included China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and UAE. He said if substantial capital expenditure fails to reduce average commute times, it is not an infrastructure deficit we are looking at, it is a governance failure.

“We are conducting a special audit of 101 Indian cities, assessing Ease of Living from the citizen's perspective, across quality of life, access, sustainability, and perception. And we are auditing multi-modal transport and first-mile, last-mile logistics, in partnership with institutions like IIT and IIM, and with the World Bank,” CAG shared his work with audit heads of BRICS countries.

Murthy recalled a quote from former President APJ Abdul Kalam, saying “a vision without action is merely a dream and action without accountability is merely expenditure. The accountability is ours to provide.” He said the auditors play an important role in providing useful information and inputs for effective governance.

“In the era of ease of living, we must ask a deeper question: Did spending change lives? A city can build a hundred flyovers and still fail its citizens. A city can pass every compliance audit and still not be very easy to live in,” he added.

India's chief auditor said that his institution provides value-added products like departmental appreciation notes, management letters, and study reports, which serve as a genuine aid to management and keep citizens and stakeholders meaningfully informed.