New Delhi: Comptroller and Auditor General Sanjay K Murthy on Thursday stated that governance failure, not a lack of roads or railways, is the primary barrier to effective urban mobility in India. He emphasized that the solutions are well-known, citing examples from London, Stockholm, and Singapore, where congestion pricing combined with robust public transport systems has reduced traffic by 20-30%. Murthy questioned the cultural barrier that prevents the adoption of such measures, noting that metro lines are built without connecting to bus networks, and flyovers merely shift congestion rather than alleviating it.
BRICS Auditors Meeting
Speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day meeting of federal auditors from BRICS nations in Bengaluru, which included China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, and the UAE, Murthy highlighted that if substantial capital expenditure fails to reduce average commute times, it signifies a governance failure rather than an infrastructure deficit. He shared that the CAG is conducting a special audit of 101 Indian cities, assessing the Ease of Living from a citizen's perspective, focusing on quality of life, access, sustainability, and perception. This audit covers multi-modal transport and first-mile, last-mile logistics in partnership with institutions like IIT, IIM, and the World Bank.
Accountability and Vision
Murthy recalled a quote from former President APJ Abdul Kalam: “A vision without action is merely a dream, and action without accountability is merely expenditure. The accountability is ours to provide.” He stressed that auditors play a crucial role in providing useful information and inputs for effective governance. In the era of ease of living, he urged 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.”
India's chief auditor noted that his institution provides value-added products such as departmental appreciation notes, management letters, and study reports, which serve as genuine aids to management and keep citizens and stakeholders meaningfully informed.
