Vinod Rai's next book on role of public institutions

A new book by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai will shed light on public institutions in the country and how it supports good governance to ensure the welfare of its people.

The book, "Rethinking Good Governance: Holding to Account India's Public Institutions", will hit the stands on September 5, announced Rupa Publications.

"Written with the razor-sharp insights of a conscientious civil servant, this lucid and observant book offers detailed and scholarly analyses of the country's key accountability agencies -- from the parliament to temple administrations -- whose functions underpin and affect all facets of life in India," the publishing house said in a statement on Monday.

According to the book, public institutions are the pillars supporting the foundation of a "robust and vibrant democracy".

In "Rethinking Good Governance", Rai highlights the strength of each of these pillars and analyses the circumstances that may have led to their weakening, resulting in the foundation of our democratic fabric being somewhat shaken.

From numerous occasions when parliamentarians failed to adhere to the decorum expected of lawmakers in the House, be it the serious deficit of impartiality and integrity within the CBI, the issue of governance that has plagued the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), or even the imbroglio around the perceived lack of cohesion between the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the author in the book reveals how each of these instances led to a gradual decline of the independence and autonomy of the very institutions over the decade.

Rai, who started his career in the IAS in 1972, rose to become the 11th CAG in 2008. He demitted the office in 2013 after eventful five-and-a-half years, one where the audit body found itself locked in confrontations with the government -- case in point its controversial assessment of Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss in the allocation of 2G spectrum.

A Padma Bhushan awardee, he currently serves as the Chairman of the Committee of Administrators (CoAs) of the BCCI.