26 Facts About Vinod Rai

Vinod Rai was born on 23 May 1948 and is a former IAS officer who served as the 11th Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Vinod Rai assumed office on 7 January 2008 till 22 May 2013.

Vinod Rai is the current chairman of UN Panel of External Auditors and Honorary Advisor to the Indian Railways and a member of the Railway Kaya Kalp Council.

The most prominent action of CAG under Vinod Rai was the report that stated that the 2G sprectrum allocation by the government had caused a loss of over 1 lakh crore to the government.

Vinod Rai is the head of advisory commission of Kerala Infrastructure and Investment Board, appointed by Government of Kerala.

Vinod Rai was born in a Bhumihar family at Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh.

Vinod Rai did his schooling from Birla Public School in Pilani, Rajasthan.

Vinod Rai has a bachelor's and master's degree in economics from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi and MPA from Harvard University, USA in 1988.

Vinod Rai chose to study Financial Administration at Harvard Kennedy school in 1987 while he held the position of District Collector and Magistrate in the state of Kerala, India.

Vinod Rai is a 1972 batch Kerala cadre officer of Indian Administrative Service.

Vinod Rai started his career as the sub-collector of Thrissur District.

Vinod Rai was called the second Sakthan Thampuran for his role in the development of the Thrissur City.

Vinod Rai was the MD of Kerala State Co-operative Marketing Federation from 1977 to 1980.

Vinod Rai had served senior positions in the Ministries of Commerce and Defence, Government of India.

Vinod Rai was instrumental in setting up the India Infrastructure Finance Company and was on the Board of this company.

In February 2016, Vinod Rai was appointed the chairman of Banks Board Bureau, the body which advises the government on top-level appointments at public sector banks and ways to address the bad loans.

Vinod Rai is the chairman of United Nations Panel of External Auditors and member of the Governing Board of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions.

The panel headed by Vinod Rai discussed the major business transformations currently under way in the United Nations with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Mr Vinod Rai has taken over as the chairman of Governing Board of the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions on 29 February 2012.

Vinod Rai recommended that all private-public partnerships, "Panchayti Raj Institutions" and societies benefiting from government funds should come within the ambit of the CAG.

Vinod Rai is widely credited for the report on issue of Licences and Allocation of 2G Spectrum by United Progressive Alliance government which resulted in a huge controversy in India.

In 2014, Vinod Rai named Sanjay Nirupam as one of the MPs who pressured him to leave former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh out of the report.

Vinod Rai responded by saying that he felt "very humbled" and said "With all sincerity I will take up the task".

However CAG Vinod Rai defended his position by stating at an Economic Editor's Conference in 2011 "I am making it clear that I do not think the CAG is exceeding its jurisdiction, because the basic responsibility of the CAG is to identify if there is any lapse," and challenged the government to identify the specific breach of mandate.

Vinod Rai wrote Not Just an Accountant: The Diary of the Nations Conscience Keeper, which speaks about how the political system was exploited to violate laws in 2G spectrum case, Krishna-Godavari gas basin contract, Commonwealth Games scam, Indian coal allocation scam and the controversial purchase of aircraft.

Vinod Rai figured as one of the Persons of the Year in Forbes magazine in January 2011.