Reacting to news reports that audit officials of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), who had exposed corruption in the Ayushman Bharat scheme and Dwarka Expressway project, have been transferred, the Congress on Wednesday accused the Narendra Modi government of intimidating the officials, and demanded their reinstatement.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, alleged that the Narendra Modi government threatens and removes anyone who “exposes” it.
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“The Modi government operates mafia style under a cloak of silence and intimidation. If anyone exposes its modus operandi of corruption, they are threatened or removed,” he said.
“We demand that these transfer orders should be cancelled immediately, the officers return to the CAG and action must be taken on these mega scams relating to Dwarka Expressway, Bharatmala and Ayushman Bharat,” Mr. Ramesh added.
The Congress leader pointed out that the CAG reports that were tabled in Parliament recently had pointed to “massive scams” in infrastructure projects and social welfare schemes.
“It [the CAG report] documented 1400% cost inflation and tendering irregularities in the Dwarka Expressway, in addition to a diversion of Rs. 3,600 crore from highways projects, faulty bidding practices, and 60% cost inflation of Bharatmala scheme,” Mr. Ramesh said.
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Similarly, the Congress leader pointed out, the CAG report had shown how an audit of the Ayushman Bharat scheme revealed how “lakhs of claims made to dead patients and at least 7.5 lakh beneficiaries were linked to a single mobile number”.
The Congress leader alleged that three CAG officers in charge of reporting on the alleged Ayushman Bharat and Dwarka Expressway scams had been transferred “to hide the blatant corruption in the Modi Government, despite the fact that the CAG is supposed to be an independent body”.
