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| CAG points out 'poor governance,' non compliance of rules in J&K | | Govt has failed to furnish mandatory UCs to AG | | Kunal Shrivatsa
JAMMU, Apr 2: 'Good governance' and 'work culture' are the two words, off and on, used or to say propagated by the State Government but going by the latest report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, the reality is somewhat different, as CAG has indicted the State administration for its non-compliance with various financial rules, procedures and directives during 2009-10.
Pointing towards the 'poor governance' in J&K, the CAG has stated that the several state government departments have failed to furnish mandatory Utilisation Certificates (UCs) to the Accountant General (AG) within the stipulated time period of 18 months.
According to the CAG findings in Table 3.1 on Page 43, Utilization Certificates for a whopping Rs 1815.29 crore in respect of 2362 items were outstanding till the end of March 2010.
The range of delay in producing UCs varies from one to five years. There were 504 items amounting to Rs 354.52 crore for which no UC was received by AG for at least an year while non- production of UCs for huge funds of Rs 1071.76 crore against 1129 items is still pending for the last three years or so and reflecting the 'irresponsible' approach of the state government is the fact that there were 729 items amounting to Rs 388.99 crore whose UCs are being awaited for about the last five years.
As per the Financial Rules, "the grants provided for specific purposes, UCs should be obtained by the departmental officers from the grantees and after verification, these should be forwarded to the Accountant General within 18 months from the date of their sanction unless specified otherwise."
Evidently, there has been laxity on part of the departments and the officers concerned who have failed to comply with the guidelines laid down by the Accountant General. Moreover with the slackness displayed by the officers, the State Government has to receive a bit of 'stick' from the CAG.
It is not only the non-compliance of UCs, the State Government has also got flak from the CAG as far as non-submission or delay in submission of accounts is concerned.
As many as seven Autonomous bodies covered under section 19(3) and 20(1) of the Duties and Powers Act had not furnished the annual accounts amounting to Rs 535.56 crore (Table 3.2, Page 43, 44) as per the CAG report.
For the period 2008-09, the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology (SKUAST)- Jammu failed to produce the details of grants to the tune of Rs 54.42 crore released under four accounts for at least four years while SKUAST-Srinagar could not provide status of its two accounts under which it was granted Rs 80.58 crore as aid for almost four years.
The other autonomous bodies which fell short of the yardstick include Jammu & Kashmir Khadi Village Industries Board, Srinagar, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil, Jammu & Kashmir Legal Services Authority, Srinagar and Provident Fund Organisation, Srinagar.
By not preparing and submitting their accounts despite receiving hefty sum in grants clearly reflect these organisations' non-seriousness.
Astonishingly these bodies did not even bother to convey the reasons of non-submissions of the details of the accounts.
The CAG report further highlighted that 245 accounts of 29 other bodies were awaited in audit. These organisation have to go through annual audit under Sections 14 and 15 of the CAG's (Duties, Powers and conditions of Service) Act,1971 which says, " The Government/Heads of the Department are required to furnish to Audit every year detailed information about the financial assistance given to various institutions, the purpose of assistance granted and the total expenditure of the institutions." |
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