Vinod Rai, the former Comptroller and Auditor General of India, is likely to head a committee to suggest ways for infusing more transparency in the functioning of Indian Railways (IR).
Rai is widely credited with taking the former government to account for the various legal breaches which led to the telecom spectrum and coal block allocation scams.
The committee would be the first assignment from the government which Rai would be taking after retiring last year.
“A decision has already been put in place that takes away the power to approve tenders from the minister, based on Sreedharan’s (E Sreedharan, the noted implementor of metro rail projects, asked to suggest better business practices at IR) recommendation. Now, the minister has asked Vinod Rai to look at (bringing in) complete transparency in the railways,” a top ministry official told reporters, asking not to be named.
The terms of reference for the committee are yet to be finalised but a person privy to the process said ministerSuresh Prabhu had asked Rai to choose who else should be on the panel. Rai is likely to take up the assignment without a fee, in public interest.
Prabhu had promised to turn around the operational and financial position of IR, immediately after assuming charge last month.
He had begun by setting up the single-member Sreedharan panel, to improve transparency in systems and operational processes, including tendering for award of works.
Rai is widely credited with taking the former government to account for the various legal breaches which led to the telecom spectrum and coal block allocation scams.
The committee would be the first assignment from the government which Rai would be taking after retiring last year.
“A decision has already been put in place that takes away the power to approve tenders from the minister, based on Sreedharan’s (E Sreedharan, the noted implementor of metro rail projects, asked to suggest better business practices at IR) recommendation. Now, the minister has asked Vinod Rai to look at (bringing in) complete transparency in the railways,” a top ministry official told reporters, asking not to be named.
The terms of reference for the committee are yet to be finalised but a person privy to the process said ministerSuresh Prabhu had asked Rai to choose who else should be on the panel. Rai is likely to take up the assignment without a fee, in public interest.
Prabhu had promised to turn around the operational and financial position of IR, immediately after assuming charge last month.
He had begun by setting up the single-member Sreedharan panel, to improve transparency in systems and operational processes, including tendering for award of works.
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C G Somiah
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V K Shunglu
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V N Kaul
CAG from 2002-2008; currently serving on the eminent persons advisory group, Competition Commission of India
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