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State Govt�s compliance to rules unsatisfactory: CAG

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 19 - The Assam Government�s compliance with various rules, procedures and directives was unsatisfactory as was evident from delays by various departments in furnishing utilisation certificates (UCs) against loans and grants received by them, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

In its report on State Finances for the year ended March 31, 2015, the CAG said that annual accounts in respect of a large number of government bodies/authorities due up to 2014-15 had not been received by the Accountant General (Audit), Assam. �There were instances of loss and misappropriation which remained unsettled with various departments for periods ranging from one to more than 25 years,� it said.

The report said that 19,648 UCs in respect of grants aggregating Rs 14,332.13 crore paid to 53 departments of the State Government during the period from 2001-02 to 2014-15 were in arrears.

�Pendency of UCs mainly pertained to Agriculture department (107 UCs, Rs 415.22 crore), Education department (12,454 UCs, Rs 2,806.68 crore), Finance (Taxation) department (738 UCs, Rs 1,009.18 crore), Finance (Economic Affairs) department (736 UCs, Rs 993.23 crore), Health department (391 UCs, Rs 878.78 crore)�,� said the report.

It added that in absence of the UCs it could not be ascertained whether the recipients had utilised the grants for the purposes for which those were given.

�Mention was made in earlier Audit Reports of the CAG of India in this regard but no efforts were made by the State Government to ensure submission of UCs by the respective departments within the prescribed time frame,� it said, adding that a monitoring system should be evolved by the respective departments so that expeditious submission of UCs by the recipients is ensured.

The report mentioned that out of 48 accounts of eight autonomous bodies and one autonomous council, 13 accounts were submitted with delay ranging from six to 24 months and above, and remaining accounts were in arrears for periods ranging from 12 to 156 months as of June 2015.

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