The three autonomous district councils in the State have received grants of Rs 566.93 crore from the Central government from 2016 to 2021.
However, the three district councils – KHADC, JHADC and GHADC – submitted utilisation certificates (UCs) for only Rs 301.28 crore or 53 per cent of the Rs 566.93 crore released to them.
This was revealed in the latest State Finances Audit Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
The grants were received by the district councils for implementation of various development schemes.
According to the CAG, non-submission of the utilisation certificates means that the authorities of the three district councils have not explained as to how funds were spent over the years or why they were not spent.
According to the CAG report, KHADC failed to submit UCs for an amount of Rs 50.18 crore released in 2018-19 and another Rs 50.18 crore released in 2019-20 which was a “Grant for Areas not included in Pt IX and IXA of the Constitution” from the Finance Ministry.
JHADC also failed to submit UCs for an amount of Rs 16.73 crore released in 2018-19 and another Rs 16.73 crore released in 2019-20 which was a “Grant for Areas not included in Pt IX and IXA of the Constitution” from the Finance Ministry.
Similarly, GHADC failed to submit utilisation certificates for an amount of Rs 44.60 crore released in 2018-19 and another Rs 44.61 crore released in 2019-20 which was a “Grant for Areas not included in Pt IX and IXA of the Constitution” from the Finance Ministry.
Further, as per the CAG report, the three district councils did not submit annual accounts to the Accountant General (Audit), Meghalaya for some years.
“Persistent delay in finalisation of accounts is fraught with the risk of fraud and leakage of public money going undetected,” the CAG said.
KHADC has failed to submit annual accounts to the Accountant General (Audit), Meghalaya for the periods from 2019-20 to 2020-21.
The JHADC also failed to submit annual accounts to the Accountant General (Audit), Meghalaya for the periods from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
Likewise, the GHADC did not submit annual accounts to the Accountant General (Audit), Meghalaya for the periods from 2016-17 to 2020-21.
As per Fund Rules of JHADC and GHADC, the annual accounts were to be submitted by 30th June of each year. However, no prescribed date was mentioned in the Fund Rules of KHADC.
