GC Murmu, the former Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has been appointed as the country’s new auditor general. Murmu made way for Manoj Sinha to be appointed as his successor.
The post of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) was expected to fall vacant this week as incumbent Rajiv Mehrishi turns 65. The Comptroller and Auditor General is a constitutional post and cannot be left vacant.
“Rajiv Mehrishi is turning 65 on August 8. That is why the government is in a hurry to look for a replacement,” a senior bureaucrat in the cabinet secretariat declared in the press on Thursday.
A former IAS officer, Murmu was the forerunner of the CAG chair previously, Murmu has worked in the office of Narendra Modi when the latter was the Gujarat Chief Minister. However, after taking the central chair, PM Modi had transferred Murmu to join the Union Finance Ministry.
Notably, Murmu was elected as the first LG of Jammu and Kashmir on October 31, 2019, after its bifurcation from Ladakh last year under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act.
His position in Srinagar was replaced by former Union Minister and seasoned BJP leader Manoj Sinha who expressed confidence that his appointment will usher in development in the newly formed union territory.
