PANJIM: Grants amounting to Rs 1,755 crore paid to the State government remained unutilised up to June 2016, with the State failing to submit the Utilisation Certificates (UCs), hinting at possible mis-utilisation of grants.
This was revealed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in its report 2015-16 tabled in the State Legislative Assembly recently.
“Rule 212 of the General Financial Rules 2005, provide that for grants provided for specific purposes, UCs should be obtained by the departmental officers from the grantees,” the CAG report stated.
“Of the 12,355 UCs due in respect of grants aggregating Rs 2,083.58 crore paid up to 2014-15, 11,553 UCs (94 percent) for an aggregate amount of Rs 1,755.48 crore (84 percent) were outstanding as on June 2016,” the report disclosed.
Of the total 11,553 UCs, 5,498 UCs (48 percent) involving Rs 1,306.49 crore were pending for a period ranging from one to five years while the balance 6,055 UCs involving Rs 448.99 crore were pending for more than five years.
The major cases of non-submission of UCs mainly pertained to Directorate of Art and Culture (34 percent), Directorate of Panchayat (North) (21 percent) and Directorate of Panchayat (South) (15 percent).
“Non-submission of UCs in time may result in mis-utilisation of grants. The large pendency in submission of UCs indicates lack of monitoring of utilisation of grants and loans by the departments,” the CAG stated.
