Team Herald
PANJIM: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has revealed that the Goa government has reported 27 cases of misappropriation, losses and defalcation involving public money amounting to Rs1.98 crore up to the period June 2014 on which final action is pending for over five to ten years.
Also the government is sitting on Rs 178.08 crore Abstract Contingent (AC) bills, pending with 72 departments, with CAG fearing misappropriation of the amount involved.
According to the Rule 33 of the General Financial Rules, 2005, any loss or shortage of public money, revenue or receipts has to be immediately reported by the subordinate authority concerned to the next higher authority as well as to the Statutory Audit Officer and the concerned Principal Accounts officer. There are nine cases involving an amount of Rs 104.17 lakhs which are pending for action for over five to ten years, while there are four cases of Rs 48.09 lakh pending for over 10 years.
The CAG report on the State Finance for the period ending March 2014 was placed before the State Legislative Assembly on Friday.
As per the government reply, the department actions in 19 cases started but are yet to be finalized, while there are five cases pending in the courts. There are three cases wherein government is awaiting orders for recovery.
“Departmental enquires in respect of all the defalcation and misappropriation cases may be expedited to bring defaulters to book. Internal controls may also be strengthened to prevent such cases in future,” CAG recommended.
As far as Abstract Contingent (AC) bills are concerned, CAG observed that at the end of June 2014, some 1,036 AC bills aggregating Rs 178.08 crore, drawn by 72 departments were pending due to non submission of Detailed Contingent (DC) Bills (vouchers in support of final expenditure).
“This has a strong impact on the fiscal indicators of the government,” CAG said.
The AC bills were drawn mainly for sports events, land acquisition, Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations, etc. The department regularly sought extension to settle all the previous AC bills, however such exorbitant delay was unjustifiable, the CAG observed.
