Clear the air first

Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India VK Shunglu has been accused of soft-peddling on corruption in his role as the Chairman of the Delhi Public School society, only one year after he had raised the issue of misappropriation of funds surrounding the construction of certain structures in its schools. It is no secret that the Delhi Public School Society’s election for the post of Chairman has been under intense scrutiny, as the incumbent VK Shunglu, following his controversial win in April this year. Allegations have flown around that the elections, which were held earlier this year, were unfair and rigged, especially since the ‘mysterious disappearance’ of the vote by the late Khushwant Singh. Shunglu was elected chairman by one vote. Shunglu managed to win with the votes of former cabinet secretary BK Chaturvedi, who was hastily inducted as life member, and Rahul Singh, who replaced his father Khuswant Singh on his sudden death. Considering that the DPS Society is sitting on a mountain of misinformation, it is only unfair to parents and students, who trust the brand.  Clearly, somewhere along the line the current chairman of the DPS Society needs to come out and answer some questions. Shunglu, however, has a history of changing his tune on issues surrounding accountability and transparency. In a confidential report, the VK Shunglu committee, which looked into the irregularities of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, recommended that the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General be itself audited by independent auditors appointed by a parliamentary panel. In a report submitted to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the panel had argued that the government’s official auditor will be more effective if it is recast on the lines of the Election Commission that has three members. Ironically, Shunglu, who was CAG from 1996 to 2002, had himself resisted such a move in 2001.