The institution of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is not superfluous. It is meant to keep a strict eye on the use of public funds by state and central authorities. In its latest report on Meghalaya, the CAG has pointed out that utilisation certificates are pending for funds amounting to Rs 5,428.54 crore up to the end of the 2024–25 financial year. Of these, 369 UCs amounting to Rs 2,489.19 crore were already overdue by March 2024, while another 408 UCs amounting to Rs 2,939.35 crore are due by March 2025. In another violation even Covid funds amounting to Rs 1.3 crore were paid in excess to Covid workers. What’s worse is that the CAG has also detected that funds unutilised by state level drawal and disbursement officials (DDOs) in a particular financial year are deposited into private accounts that then remain untraceable. They are the proverbial black hole from where public funds are siphoned off to private coffers. Sadly, this aspect is not new. It has been a repeated plaint but since the CAG has no punitive powers except to point out these excesses repeatedly, state government officials cock a snook at such CAG audit paras. At times it’s possible that projects are not completed within the stipulated time and the amount has to be carried over to the next financial year. In that case this needs clear explanation and must be backed by utilisation certificates. But such is not the case. What then is the point of the institution of the CAG?
Apart from technical delay this is also a clear case of institutional indifference. CAG reports are regularly tabled before the State Assembly, after which the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is expected to examine the findings and call departments to account. But the PAC often comprises MLAs who have themselves been violators when they were in the government. Hence, they feel that if they have been complicit in not adhering to rules then they have no locus standi to point their fingers at the government today. Moreover, the PAC comprises legislators with vested interests and meetings are not held regularly. But even if the PAC does make its observations, government departments fail to respond meaningfully. Hence audit observations pile up year after year. As a result we have a dangerous culture where individual accountability is not fixed and financial management which is a crucial part of good governance becomes a casual piece of work since there are no penalties for wrongdoing. Persistent non-submission of utilisation certificates (UCs) by the Government of Meghalaya therefore raises serious concerns about fiscal discipline, transparency, and accountability.
The CAG is a constitutional authority tasked with auditing the receipts and expenditures of the Union and State governments. Its reports cannot therefore be treated as mere bureaucratic formalities. In fact they are instruments of legislative oversight. When CAG findings are ignored, delayed, or brushed aside, it weakens the very foundation of democratic accountability. Unfortunately for Meghalaya even those in the Opposition don’t spend too much time reading CAG reports and nor do they raise relevant issues in the Assembly with the intention of bringing accountability in public spending. What could happen in the long term is that the Centre may withhold further funding since there is no proof that public money has reached the target beneficiaries. It also becomes difficult to track outcomes and impacts of centrally sponsored schemes. Failure to submit UCs means only two things – administrative inefficiency and misuse of public money which means corruption. A time has come for civic movements to seek accountability in the use of public funds and thereby make the CAG reports relevant.
