SHILLONG: The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in regard to the District Council audit report for the year ended March 31, 2011 revealed that Rs 9 lakh was drawn and spent by 30 members of the KHADC as discretionary grants without furnishing utilisation certificates to the council, which is in violation of the rules.
The CAG report stated that the KHADC sanctioned in the July 2010, discretionary grants at the rate of Rs 0.30 lakh each to all the 30 members of the council with a stipulation that necessary utilisation certificate be submitted against the claim.
Accordingly, Rs 9 lakh was drawn and expended as discretionary grants by the KHADC for the financial year 2010-11.
Further, scrutiny of records (October-November 2016) revealed that the purpose for which the discretionary grants were being released to the members of the council were not recorded.
The payment made was also without any supporting vouchers and utilisation certificates in violation of the rules. “In the absence of the vouchers evidencing utilization of grants, the veracity of expenditure of Rs 9 lakh incurred out of the Council’s fund could not be ascertained,” the report stated.
The CAG further said that the KHADC did not furnish any policy or guideline utilizing the discretionary grants drawn by the members of the Council though called for by audit.
Non-maintenance
of records
The CAG report revealed that the Council did not maintain any ledger or ledger accounts as per various heads of account given in the annual accounts.
The Council also did not maintain any asset register to record the details of various assets of the Council.
Further, there was no system in place to physically verify the Council’s assets to ascertain the condition and utility of its different assets. “In the absence of such mechanisms, the net value along with existence of the Council’s assets could not be ascertained in audit. Non-maintenance of ledger or any record about the available assets of the Council was fraught with the risk of theft or loss of those assets,” the report stated. In this connection, the secretary to the Executive Committee of the Council (SEC) stated (June 2017) that necessary steps were being taken to maintain ledger or ledger accounts as per requirements of the annual accounts.
Irregularities in maintenance of cash book
Test check of cash book maintained by the Council revealed that entries in the cash book during 2010-11 were made only for disbursement of salaries.
The CAG report stated that as per Rule 16 (ii) of the United Khasi and Jaintia Hills District Council Fund Rules, 1952, provides that all monetary transactions shall be entered in the cash book as soon as they occur.
Requirements that the cash book shall be closed daily, duly authenticated by Secretary in token of acceptance of its correctness and for verification of cash balance in the cash book at the end of each month and recording a certificate to that effect in the cash book, were not adhered to during 2010-2011.
The CAG reported that absence of verification of cash balance as well as non-posting amounts in the cash book was not only highly irregular but also fraught with the risk of misappropriation and losses.
The SEC stated on June 2017 that steps were under way to maintain the cash book in a foolproof manner as per the provision of the United Khasi and Jaintia Hills District Council Fund Rules, 1952.
