The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has detected that utilisation certificates (UCs) were not submitted by some State government departments for grants amounting to around Rs 3400 crore received by them.
According to the State Finances Audit Report of the CAG, the major defaulting departments for UCs due as on March 31, 2023 are Community and Rural Development Department (Rs 1396 crore), Health and Family Welfare Department (Rs 784 crore), Education Department (Rs 443 crore), Planning Department (Rs 258 crore) and District Council’s Affairs Department (Rs 211 crore).
The report also said that during 2022-23, 726 UCs amounting to Rs 4,459.58 crore (307 amounting to Rs 2,373.51 crore overdue from previous years and 419 UCs amounting to Rs 2,086.07 crore which became due in 2022-23) were outstanding.
Out of this, only 37.46 per cent (272 UCs amounting to Rs 1,023.57 crore) were submitted.
“As on March 31, 2023, 454 UCs amounting to Rs 3436.01 crore remained outstanding. This is 47.88 per cent over the last year in terms of the numbers of UCs and 44.76 per cent more than the last year in terms of the outstanding UCs,” the CAG added.
In the absence of UCs, it could not be ascertained whether the recipients had actually utilised the grants and whether it had been utilised for the purposes for which the grants were disbursed.
Further, in the absence of UCs required to be submitted by the departments, assessing the status and progress of the scheme’s implementation, for which funds have been disbursed, is not feasible.
“The substantial backlog in the submission of UCs poses a significant risk of potential fraud and misappropriation of funds. The State government needs to monitor this aspect closely and may review disbursement of further Grants to the Grantees that are not in compliance to prescribed conditions and timelines with respect to furnishing of UCs to the Finance Department as well as Principal Accountant General (A&E),” the CAG report said.
Rule 515 (Appendix 14) of the Meghalaya Financial Rules, 1981, provides that unless otherwise ruled by the State government, every grant made for a special object is subject to the implied conditions that the grant will be spent upon that object within a reasonable time (one year from the date of issue of the letter sanctioning the grant) if no time-limit has been fixed by the sanctioning authority.
In other words, unless the State government specifies otherwise, any grant for a particular purpose must be used for that purpose within one year from the date of sanction. The purpose for which the Grants-in-Aid were utilised can be confirmed only on receipt of UCs. This serves as a safeguard against diversion of funds for other purposes.
Non-receipt of UCs implies that the expenditure shown in the accounts can neither be treated as final nor can it be confirmed that the amount has been utilised for the intended purposes.
“Non-submission of the UCs means that the authorities have not explained as to how funds were spent over the years. There is also no assurance that the intended objectives of providing these funds have been achieved. This assumes greater importance if such UCs are pending against Grants-in-Aid meant for Capital Expenditure,” the CAG report said.
