Shillong, Feb 28: The State Revenue and Disaster Management Department has misused funds from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to offer compensation to individuals involved in illegal coal mining activities amounting to Rs 1.07 crores.
This is as per the audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
According to the report, ex-gratia payment was made in July 2019 to 14 victims who died and five persons who suffered injury during the course of illegal coal mining activities at Mengkulgittim of Rongsa Awe Village under South Garo Hills. The total amount of ex gratia paid was Rs 16.50 lakhs.
Further, ex gratia payment was made to 18 persons who died at Ksan coal mines at the rate of Rs 5 lakh per person amounting to Rs 90 lakhs.
“Extending relief to 37 individuals involved in illegal activities stands in stark contradiction to the SDRF guidelines,” the CAG said.
The Department justified the payments citing flooding due to excessive rainfall, but the CAG deemed it unacceptable as coal mine incidents aren’t notified natural calamities under SDRF guidelines.
“The State Executive Committee is not mandated to regularise an expenditure incurred for supporting any activity declared illegal by the National Green Tribunal,” the audit report said.
The CAG also found that the Department spent Rs 8.10 crore from the SDRF to provide immediate relief to victims of heavy rainfall, strong wind, speedy wind, thunder squall, hailstone, which were not notified as natural calamities.
As per Para 3 of Guidelines, the report said SDRF shall be used only for meeting the expenditure for providing immediate relief to victims of cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloud burst, pest attack, and frost and cold wave.
Besides, the report said, the expenditure was sanctioned after nine to more than 12 months after the actual occurrence of the “un-notified disaster.”
It pointed out that the State government is allowed to use up to 10 per cent of SDRF for providing immediate relief to victims that are declared/notified as ‘local disaster’. Meghalaya had declared lightning strike a ‘local disaster’ in 2015.
“It was further noticed that in 15 cases, booking of expenditure was not done as per the classification mentioned in the sanction order,” the report said.
The report said on being pointed out about expenditure incurred on natural calamities, which were not notified as natural calamities, the Department stated it would take up the matter with the respective deputy commissioners to rectify the nomenclature as notified in the guidelines.
“The audit findings indicate that the Department did not conduct a thorough examination to assess the admissibility and adherence to established guidelines prior to approving the relief funds. A meticulous due diligence process would have revealed discrepancies in the nomenclature assigned to the natural calamities, diverging from the prescribed guidelines,” the report said.
