CAG Sanjay Murthy emphasized the vital role that young civil servants will play in shaping governance across sectors. File | Photo credit: PTI
India’s Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) K. Sanjay Murthy on Friday (Nov 21, 2025) urged young civil servants to play a transformative role in governance, highlighting the three key pillars of “widening access, promoting data-driven management and strengthening institutional financial discipline”.
Speaking on ‘Viksit Bharat’ at the 100th Joint Basic Course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, Mr. Murthy highlighted the vital role young civil servants will play in shaping governance across sectors.
CAG has developed the concept of access through a major reform of providing free access to premium academic journals to institutions across India. While individual departments previously negotiated independently within one country for one subscription, leading to high costs and limited reach, a consolidated national negotiation led by the Ministry of Education now provides access to more than 13,000 journals from more than 5,000 institutions, generating nearly one million downloads each month, compared to the same number per year, he said.
He also drew parallels with UJALA’s LED bulb initiative to highlight the transformative power of scale and collective procurement. Mr. Murthy explained how data-driven management increases institutional accountability and improvement and emphasized the need for strong institutional financial discipline and investment readiness.
In his closing remarks, he challenged the 660 participating interns to appreciate the transformative impact of small, honest administrative actions – whether in sustainability, service delivery or regulatory reform.
Published – 23 Nov 2025 05:07 IST
