Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Monday asked bureaucracy not to become "prisoner of procedures" as delay in taking decisions resulted in time and cost overruns.

"I have often heard civil servants complain that system has in-built disincentives for taking decisions," Vajpayee said asserting that to execute the policies and programmes of the government, one has to take decisions promptly for achieving the overall objective.

But senior officers are often afraid of possible audit remarks and shy away from taking decisions in a timely manner, instead they play it safe, preferring to take shelter under procedures and technicalities, he said inaugurating the three-day Conference of Accountant Generals.

"The executive becomes a prisoner of procedures, rather than an achiever of purpose. An atmosphere in which the auditor is on the offensive and the executive is on defensive is detrimental to good performance," he said, adding in the absence of timely decisions, project and programmes become "victims of unacceptable time and cost overruns."

The prime minister also urged the government departments to bring out audit findings and action taken reports in Hindi and other Indian languages, apart from English, to enhance transparency.