Viksit Bharat hard to attain by 2047 without grassroots growth: CAG

India cannot become Viksit Bharat, or developed nation, by 2047 without development at the grassroots level and the local level, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Girish Chandra Murmu said on Tuesday. India has around 2,60,000 village panchayats and 7,000 urban local bodies.

“Without the development of grassroots level at the local level, we cannot achieve Viksit Bharat. More than 50 per cent people live in rural area and until their governance, their development, their administration, their resources are not augmented, we will not be able to reach (the goal of Viksit Bharat),” said CAG Murmu.

He reiterated that adhering to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Jan Bhagidari (people’s participation) would be a significant step to realise Viksit Bharat by 2047, as a mark of commemorating 100 years of the nation’s Independence.

“As our Prime Minister says, if everyone takes one step we will have 1.4 billion steps. That is why Jan Bhagidari is important,” Murmu said, according to reports in the press. The CAG of India was of the opinion India needs to do much more in terms of decentralisation of power.

Gram Sabha, or rural assemblies that are considered the essence of Panchayati Raj and village development, have still not got their due importance in the nation’s political set-up, he pointed out. Gram Sabha in villages across the country have to be strengthened to ensure that government schemes reach the hinterlands. For India to become Viksit Bharat by 2047, it is important that development of the grassroots happens at a rapid pace, he reminded. Murmu made a valid point when he said that in order to attain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), India needs to boost local bodies, and added that audit and accounting play a vital part for funds to reach the grassroots.

The CAG of India said that municipal corporations in the country should be allowed to raise resources from the market only if they obey accounting norms. He added auditing was an ideal process to ensure transparency in the system and also an important tool to usher economic efficiency as far as government schemes are concerned.