The audit of power companies by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that Arvind Kejriwal, the new Chief Minister of Delhi, has initiated on the last day of 2013 could go well into 2014. Already, there are political noises around this audit - Congress supporters are saying that former chief minister had approved it in 2012, while the BJP is calling it "opportunistic politics".
If the presumption of an audit of private companies is that the fall in transmission and distribution losses should have seen a commensurate cut in power bills in a system where regulation is being seen to be compromised, the audit is timely. If CAG's investigations show that indeed there is some over-invoicing of costs to associate companies and the hike in tariffs is unfair, it would be a political economy victory for Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) now aspires to go national. And if the audit comes up with no such expose, it would end this debate and move the spoilt capital towards paying user charges.
But why stop at power? Here's a list of six more audits that must be undertaken in the New Year. We don't know how long the AAP government will last, so perhaps initiating them in the first 14 days may be wise.
PTI
Water. The political promise of delivering 20 kl of free water notwithstanding, this would be a good time to audit water meters. Every other household has a non-functioning meter and households in which the meters work complain about over-billing. Something's amiss, which perhaps the CAG could decipher.
Regularisation. Every government has been giving unauthorised residential colonies post-facto legitimacy through a process of regularisation. This has led to a process under which people, under the watch of politicians and builders, buy cheap and hence illegal land and apartments that they know will get legalised later. This process of giving political support to law breakers must end. An audit of beneficiaries of the past decade and existing households in unauthorised colonies would be a good starting point. While on the subject, would it be too much to expect the AAP government to end this cycle of illegal wealth creation?
Stamp duty. The introduction and updation of circle rates is a good exercise. But how accurate is it? While budget estimates for stamps and registration add up to Rs 4,300 crore and is the second-largest revenue source for the Delhi government after VAT, this can easily be doubled if randomised audits are done across properties.
Hospitals. Among the various rules that govern private hospitals is one that says that they need to reserve 10 percent of their beds for households from economically weaker sections (EWS); further, 25 percent in OPD (outpatients department) must be form EWS. A one-time, intense audit now and an annual review would help see how far hospitals have followed this policy.
Schools. Teacher absenteeism is a chronic problem in government schools. It would be worthwhile knowing why students in uniforms hang around in DDA parks, smoking and playing gilli-danda or cricket, when they should be in school. Where have the highly-paid teachers gone, where do their children study? A CAG audit would help.
Auto-rickshaws. I challenge any AAP member or government official to walk with me to a random auto-rickshaw and reach where she wants to without paying anything more than what the meter says. Why don't their meters work? Is it something to do with defective meters or are the drivers above the law, particularly since they supported AAP during elections? Only one way to find out: a CAG audit.
This list is merely indicative. I'm sure if the AAP government used its governance-by-surveys tool, it would be able to multiply this list - lack of pavements, chaotic parking, broken roads…the list is as long as it is rich. Happy auditing in 2014.
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