Porvorim: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has recommended that the government needs to regulate cases of excess expenditure at the earliest and the departments may monitor the expenditure against the allocations and avoid incurring expenditure excess of the grants except in cases of dire and extreme emergency.
The CAG report on State finances audit for the year ended March 31, 2020 was presented by Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
The CAG report said the government may ensure timely surrender of funds so that they could be utilised in other heads requiring additional funds. Late surrender of funds affected the availability of funds in certain priority areas and the outcomes. Excessive/unnecessary/inadequate re-appropriations of funds may also be avoided.
The government may ensure timely submission of utilisation certificates by the departments in respect of the grants released for specific purposes.
Budget controlling officers need to be made aware of their responsibility to provide clear explanation of the variations in expenditure from the allocation to facilitate proper analysis of budget and accurate preparation of subsequent appropriation accounts, it said.
The CAG also observed that final action is pending in 31 cases of misappropriation of funds, defalcation, etc, involving government money totalling Rs 8.74 crore up to June 2020. Of these 31 cases, 12 were related to Directorate of Panchayats, Panjim and seven pertained to Vigilance Department. Of these 19 cases, three cases amounting to Rs 3.44 lakh pertaining to Directorate of Panchayats were pending for more than 10 years.
