The State government failing to submit utilisation certificates (UC) for funds amounting to ₹65,921.35 crore as on March 31, 2018, indicated a lack of proper monitoring by departments of the use of grants that had been sanctioned for specific purposes, said a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on the State’s finances for 2017-18.
“Further, there was no assurance that the money was actually incurred during the financial year for the purpose for which it was sanctioned/ authorised by the legislature. High pendency of UCs was fraught with the risk of misappropriation of funds and fraud,” the report said.
A UC has to be obtained by departmental officers from the grantee institutions and has to be verified within 12 months from the dates of sanction, unless specified otherwise.
Ex-CM’s department
Interestingly, 46% of the cases where the UCs were not submitted relate to the Urban Development Department, which was under the charge of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for the last five years.
Other departments that have failed to submit UCs include School Education and Sports (8%), Planning (8%), Public Health (7%), Tribal Development (6%), Industries, Energy and Labour (5%), Rural Development and Water Conservation (5%), Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries (4%), Social Justice and Special Assistance (2%), Water Supply and Sanitation (1%), and Revenue and Forest (1%).
“Non-submission of UCs defeats the very purpose of legislative control over the public purse and is fraught with the risk of the funds released for various schemes/programmes bring locked up or diverted,” said the audit report.
It recommended that the issues leading to the delay of submission of UCs should be identified to ensure their submission within the stipulated time.
Debt burden
Meanwhile, amid the ongoing exchange of political barbs over the State’s debt burden, the report has advised the government to work out a well thought-out debt borrowing repayment strategy to avoid falling into a debt trap.
“The liability of the State to repay the debt during the periods 2018-19, 2019-21 and 2021-23 would be ₹23,088.93 crore, ₹40,739.91 crore and ₹60,921.17 crore respectively, which may put a strain on the government budget during that period. Further, ₹1,84,356.78 crore i.e. 56.37% of the total public debt would be repayable within the next seven years. Therefore, the State government would have to work out a well thought-out debt borrowing repayment strategy to avoid falling into a debt trap,” said the report.
The report has also pointed out that a very insignificant portion of the debt was available to meet developmental expenditure to promote growth.
