SHILLONG: The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found irregularities in the execution of work worth Rs 4.50 crore by the KHADC sanctioned for 2007-08 under the 12th Finance Commission.
As per the CAG report for the year ended March 31, 2010, that was tabled in the House on Tuesday, the State government had sanctioned Rs 4.50 crore in March and April, 2009, to the Council for various welfare projects like building public latrines, slab cover for drains, maintenance of accounts and creation of database at the same cost.
The amount allocated for sanitary public latrines is Rs 123.40 lakh in East Khasi Hills, Rs 39.70 lakh in West Khasi Hills and Rs 14 lakh in Ri Bhoi, adding up to Rs 177.10 lakh.
For urinals and public latrines the allocation was Rs 3.90 lakh for East Khasi Hills and Rs 6.30 lakh for Ri Bhoi, adding up to Rs 10.20 lakh. For slab cover for drains, it was Rs 46.20 lakh for East Khasi Hills, Rs 18 lakh for West Khasi Hills and Rs 2.90 lakh for Ri Bhoi, but construction of drains in East Khasi Hills was found to be Rs 71.60 lakh, in West Khasi Hills Rs 34.50 lakh and Rs 29.50 lakh in Ri Bhoi.
Maintenance of accounts was at Rs 50 lakh and for creation of database an amount of Rs 10 lakh was expended.
The CAG noticed irregularity with regard to 672 sanitary works which were taken up at the cost of Rs 3.90 crore.
It stated in the report, “Scrutiny (June 2015) of the records relating to execution of these works revealed that the Council completed execution of all the sanitary projects at a total cost of Rs 381.44 lakh and the balance amount of Rs 8.56 lakh remained unutilised even after five years of the stipulated period.”
Another irregularity pointed out by the CAG is the delay in execution of works. It stated, “Scrutiny of records relating to 20 out of 672 executed works revealed that there were delays in completion of 12 out of the 20 works. Further, eight out of the 12 works were completed after a delay of four months or more, the delay going up to 12 months, from the stipulated date of completion.”
The report pointed out that 12 works were completed after delays that ranged from one month to one year.
The CAG report mentioned that in a joint physical verification of 19 of the 20 works conducted by audit along with the Executive Engineer of the Council in June 2015 revealed that while construction of 17 out of 19 works was satisfactory, the sanitary latrine at Polo ground, completed in October 2009, was found in a dilapidated condition and is no longer in use.
Further, it stated, “One sanitary latrine constructed at a cost of Rs 1 lakh at Mawlai Presbyterian School, Nongkwar, in February 2010 was demolished in 2011-12 for construction of a new school building under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, thereby rendering the expenditure of Rs 1 lakh wasteful.”
Again, the CAG report pointed to the non-submission of utilisation certificates and proof of disbursement of grants by the MDCs.
The grants in aid amounting to Rs 5.60 lakh under art and culture and Rs 8.30 lakh under sports and youth affairs were sanctioned by the Council to 30 MDCs in 2009-10. For art and culture, Rs 39,000 and Rs 19,000 were paid to each of the 13 and 17 MDCs, respectively, for distribution to sundry beneficiaries.
Similarly, for sports and youth affairs, Rs 21,500 and Rs 16,500 were paid to each of the 13 and 17 MDCs, respectively, for distribution among beneficiaries.
“It was, however, noticed that utilisation certificates for Rs 92,500 in respect of grants paid for sports and youth affairs were submitted by only five of the 30 MDCs and those for art and culture for Rs 19,000 were submitted by one MDC,” the CAG report stated.
“In the absence of utilisation certificates, utilisation of grants of Rs 12.78 lakh paid to 25 MDCs for sports and youth affairs (Rs 4.67 lakh) and 29 MDCs for art and culture (Rs 8.11 lakh) could not be vouched for by audit,” the CAG report stated.
The CAG report mentioned that the matter was reported to the Council in December 2010 but it has not received any reply until September 2015.
