Shunglu committee has no bite, admits prime minister

Directs the cab sec to examine observations made by the civil society

danish

Danish Raza | December 17, 2010



The prime minister’s office (PMO) has admitted that the Shunglu committee, which it appointed to probe alleged cases of corruption in the commonwealth games 2010, does not have adequate powers. 

In a note dated November 11, 2010 and addressed to the cabinet secretary, the PMO has said, “…prime facie it appears that its powers and jurisdiction do not derive from statute as is the case with the CAG, the CVC, the CBI, the ED. “

In October, many social activists including Arvind Kejriwal sent an open letter to the PM highlighting deficiencies in the Shunglu committee.

The letter said that the efforts of the committee may prove to be ineffective as unlike the CVC and the CAG, it does not have the powers and jurisdiction under law to conduct the most basic enquiries i.e. call for records, summon/ question/ record statements of officers, politicians or contractors. 

A month after the letter was sent, Delhi based RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal filed RTI application with the PMO asking if it has received the letter and action taken on the same.

According to the reply, the prime minister has agreed that the matter be examined and discussed.

Further, the PMO has asked the cabinet secretary to comment on the observations regarding the powers and jurisdiction of the V K Shugnlu committee.

The committee was constituted as a high level committee vide cabinet secretariat on October 25.

The two-member committee is headed by former comptroller and auditor general (CAG) V K Shunglu. Shantanu Consul, former secretary, department of personnel and training is its second member.

The panel has three month deadline to submit report.

 

Comments

 

Other News

Making AI work where governance is closest to people

India’s next governance leap may not solely come from digitisation. It will come from making public systems more intelligent, more adaptive, and more responsive to the dynamics at the grassroots. That opportunity is especially significant at the panchayat level, where governance is not an abstract po

Borrowing troubles: How small loans are quietly trapping youth

A silent crisis is playing out in the pocket of young India, not in stock markets or government treasuries, but in smartphones of college students and first-jobbers who clicked on the Apply Now button without reading the small print.  A decade ago, to take a loan, you had to do some paperwor

A 19th-century pilgrim’s progress

The Travels of a Sadhu in the Himalayas By Jaladhar Sen (Translated by Somdatta Mandal) Speaking Tiger Books, 259 pages, ₹499.00  

India faces critical shortage of skin donors amid rising burn cases

India reports nearly 70 lakh burn injury cases every year, resulting in approximately 1.4 lakh deaths annually. Experts estimate that up to 50% of these lives could be saved with adequate access to skin donations.   A significant concern is that around 70% of burn victims fall wi

Not just politics, let`s discuss policies too

Why public policy matters Most days, India`s loudest debates stop at the ballot box. We can name every major leader and recall every campaign slogan. Still, far fewer of us can explain why a widow`s pension is delayed or how a government school`s budget is actually approved. That

When algorithms decide and children die

The images have not left me, of dead and wounded children being carried in the arms of the medics and relatives to the ambulances and hospitals. On February 28, at the start of Operation Epic Fury, cruise missiles struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh school – officially named a girls’ school, in Minab,


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter