Vinod Rai retires after redefining CAG's role
May 22, 2013  10:42
Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, who demits office Wednesday, will be remembered for turning the statutory body into a pugnacious watchdog of good governance and administrative integrity at a time when India is experiencing the need for greater transparency and a rebalancing of power that has tilted over the years towards the executive. 

Rai's five-year tenure (2008-2013) has been a tad controversial because of the unprecedented public profile the CAG's office -- which the average Indian knew little about previously -- acquired and the political storms it generated, with many of the audit reports proving troublesome for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. 

The CAG's reports on the 2010 Commonwealth Games and allocation of licenses for 2G telecom spectrum and coal mining blocks have severely dented the UPA government's image and provided ammunition to the opposition. There have been also suggestions of the CAG has exceeded its brief. 
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