4 months ago
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Several irregularities have been found in the implementation of government schemes in Jharkhand. It was revealed when the Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) report of financial year 2021-2022 was tabled on the last day of the Assembly session on Thursday.
The State government has given the widow pension to men. Many students have received more than one scholarship despite the fact that they were entitled for only one scholarship.
The CAG report found lack of social audit and monitoring in the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes in which fake beneficiaries were given the scholarship.
During the audit it was found that payment of ₹9.54 lakh was done to 16 men from East Singhbhum, Godda Potka, Ghatshila, Padaiyahat and Godda Sadar as a widow pension under Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme and the Rajya Vidhwa Samman Protsahan Yojna.
In the audit, irregularities were found in pre- and post-matric scholarships in which ₹1.17 crore were paid to fake students in Chatra, East Singhbhum, Godda and Ranchi. Apart from this ₹9.99 crore payments was done to the fake students under the scholarship given to the minorities.
Irregularities have also been found in the scholarship given to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Backward Class (BC). The report says that ₹5.21 lakh were given to 81 fake students in fived districts which includes Chatra, Godda, Palamu, Ranchi and East Singhbhum.
Late payment
During the audit, cases of late payment of pension were also found. Around 39% applicants faced the delay of more than two years in getting the pension.
Jharkhand government has also not given the utilisation certificate for the expenditure of ₹1,03,459.14 crore till March 31, 2022. The CAG report related to the financial year 2021-2022 states that the government had made a budget estimate of ₹91,277 crore but revenue receipts are of ₹17,659 crore, less than the estimate.
Central revenues spent on salaries, pension
The state government had collected ₹69,722 crore from the central assistance, however it was found that 40% of this revenue was spent on paying interest on salaries, allowances, pension and loans taken for development schemes.
In the financial year 2021-2022, the state government spent ₹13,979 crore on salary allowance, ₹7614 crore on payments of pension and ₹6,286 crore on interest payment. The government’s revenue deficit increased in 2021-2022 compared to the financial year 2020-2021.
The revenue deficit of the government in 2021-2021 was ₹3,114 crore and in 2021-2022 it was ₹6,944 crore. At the end of the financial year 2021-2022, the total debt and liabilities burden on the government increased to ₹10,9184.98 crore. The state government took the loan of ₹5,000 crore at 6.87% and 7.35% interest rates to meet its expenses.
The report also mentioned that the state government has not completed infrastructure projects costing more than ₹10,000 crore within the stipulated time frame. It also includes road construction costing ₹3,344.75 crore.
