By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 3: The latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed that more than half the revenue collected from the COVID-19 testing centres was transferred to “other” accounts of the National Health Mission without any government approval.
More than Rs 8 crore out of the total revenue of Rs 14.31 crore went to such accounts, the report said.
During the COVID-19 period, the Health and Family Welfare Department released the Policy for Testing on a Payment Basis. According to the policy, every entrant to Meghalaya has to pay Rs 500 at the entry point after registering for testing.
The police also said that anyone who wants to get tested with RTPCR/CRNAAT/TUNAT without medical advice will pay Rs 3,200 for the tests.
Further, Meghalaya Treasury Rule 7(1) states that all money received by or tendered to the government shall, without undue delay, be paid in full into a treasury and included in the state government’s accounts. “Money received as aforesaid shall not be appropriated to meet departmental expenditure, nor otherwise kept apart from the accounts of the government,” one of the rules says.
Scrutiny of the records of NHM Meghalaya revealed that a significant portion of revenue collected from COVID-10 testing centres had been deposited in an ICICI Bank account.
The report revealed that between 2020-21 and 2022-23, the Rs 14.31 crore collected as total revenue was not transmitted to the treasury. No approval from the state government was obtained for non-remittance of the entire fund to the treasury.
On the contrary, it was seen that Rs 8.72 crore was diverted to other accounts—personal ledger account (PLA) and HDFC Bank accounts of NHM.
In this regard, too, the purpose for such transfer was not found on record. Approval from the state government was also not obtained for such a transfer of funds.
“The practice being followed by the NHM is not only in contravention of the laid down rules but also fraught with the risk of misappropriation of government money,” the CAG report said.
NHM, Meghalaya stated (on July 24, 2022) that, in January 2021, the government had authorised the opening of the PLA.
The CAG said that the reply was not tenable, as the approval for operating a PLA was only to collect fines for violating the COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedure, not for COVID-19 testing.
