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| Financial rules violated, codes undermined by I&FC | | 116 works executed without inviting tenders, Rs 3.99 crore irregularly incurred | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 28: Startling revelations are coming to the fore about works worth crores of rupees being sanctioned without obtaining administrative approval thus violating the financial code of Jammu and Kashmir with impunity.
Official documents reveal that in order to ensure competitiveness and transparency in the execution of works, the Divisional authorities were required to invite tenders for each work. However, two Divisions-(i) FC Division, Anantnag: Rs 65.83 lakh (8 works) (ii) I&FC Division, Srinagar: Rs 3.33 crore (108 works)- executed 116 works without inviting tenders which were in contravention of the financial rules.
These works were routine in nature including the construction of paths, toe walls, and other strengthening works of embankments/ bunds. Thus, an expenditure of Rs 3.99 crore incurred on the works during the period 2016-19 was irregular.
The Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Kashmir while defending such action has reportedly submitted to the audit scrutiny committee that sometimes situations arise when the Department could not wait for the execution of works in the normal mode of tendering and under compulsion has to resort to departmental execution and that the Divisions had executed urgent nature of works to prevent damages to life and property and also provide immediate relief.
The reply by the audit committee was not deemed as tenable as the works executed were not emergent in nature, therefore the extant rules under Financial Code Volume I were required to be followed. (II) Rule 9-3 of the J&K State Financial Code provide for obtaining of administrative approval and technical sanction before taking up works for execution. Audit examination of records of six executing Divisions, entrusted with the execution of priority works, revealed that 185 works on river Jhelum were executed during the period 2015-19 in anticipation of administrative approval and technical sanction and an expenditure of Rs 100.18 crore had been incurred.
The CE, I&FC, Kashmir has stated in his submission that the project had been approved and funds released by the GoI, and as such it might be construed that administrative approval was given by the Government. Though, it was acknowledged that technical sanction was to be accorded before the start of work but the condition had not been met and that procedural lapses by certain divisions need to be condoned in view of the urgent nature of works executed to prevent damage to life and property. As per the official records, the works have to be executed only after administrative approval and technical sanction is accorded. Here, however, in this case, the works were executed without the approval of the administrative department, and that deeming that the sanctioning of the funds means approval for execution of the works is seriously a misplaced notion. |
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