press trust of india, New Delhi, May 5: Comptroller and Auditor General has found several irregularities, including fund diversion, in the implementation of Centre’s flagship agri-programme Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) by state governments from 2007 to 2013.
RKVY was launched in the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012) amid faltering agriculture growth in the previous decades. The agri-scheme was to act as a catalyst in incentivising states so that 4 per cent annual agriculture growth could be achieved.
“Financial management under the scheme was deficient as many instances of excess expenditure, inadmissible expenditure, etc. were noticed. An important area of concern was submission of incorrect utilisation certificates by states,” CAG said in a report laid in the Parliament Tuesday.
Even though expenditure was not/partially incurred out of the grant received under the scheme, the states submitted UCs for the entire grant received by them. “As a result, expenditure incurred at a given point of time remained un-ascertainable,” it said.
Against an allocation of Rs 32,460.45cr during 2007-08 and 2012-13, an amount of Rs 30,873.38cr was released to 28 states and seven Union Territories.
CAG, which conducted performance audit from inception of RKVY from 2007-08 to 2012-13, also said that “instances of inflated figures of expenditure were noted. As of September 2013, UCs for an amount of Rs 2,610.07cr was outstanding from 26 states. “Short release of funds of Rs 154.65cr was noticed in three states adversely affecting the project delivery.”
CAG said that excess expenditure of Rs 106.13cr without the approval of State level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) was noticed in 50 projects in seven states.
Grants of Rs 759.03cr were found parked in personal ledger accounts/ personal deposit accounts/ savings bank account/ fixed deposit account in 11 states, it said.
“In four states of Haryana, Maharasthra, Meghalaya and West Bengal, diversion of RKVY funds (Rs 114.45cr) to other schemes/agency were noticed,” it added.
Besides, the CAG also noticed various cases of delay in release of funds at various levels i.e. from state government to nodal agency and from nodal agency to implementing agency.
Observing that monitoring of the scheme has been largely satisfactory, CAG said, “Monitoring and evaluation of the scheme both at the central and state levels needs strengthening in a big way.”
The Agriculture Ministry engaged the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) and 25 other consultants for monitoring and evaluation of implementation of the scheme.
Other CAG observations:
On import clearance
New Delhi: Lack of standard norms for clearance of inbound shipments at ports coupled with complex procedures lead to inordinate delay in imports, government auditor CAG said Tuesday. “It was seen that the procedural complexities and consequent delays in import clearance are of a much higher order than in the case of export clearances. No standard benchmark or norms have been prescribed for ships waiting to get berth at ports and time taken during the various stages in the clearance of goods,” CAG said.
On number of EOUs
New Delhi: Discontinuation of duty benefits and introduction of special economic zones have led to a reduction in the number export-oriented units to 2,608 in 2013-14 from 3,109 in 2009-10, CAG said in its report. It also said that no impact assessment was done before implementing the export-oriented unit (EOU) scheme by the Department of Commerce and the Department of Revenue.
On oilmin role
New Delhi: CAG Tuesday criticised the oil ministry for allowing Reliance Industries to charge a marketing margin on its KG-D6 gas in US dollars terms and not in rupees saying it will result in over `201 crore excess subsidy payout on urea. “Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for KG-D6 block did not provide for marketing margin component. The contractor (RIL), however, has been charging marketing margin based on the energy equivalent of gas supplied ie USD 0.135 per mmBtu,” the Comptroller and Auditor General said. The marketing margin is over and above the government approved natural gas sale price.
At A Glance:
What the CAG points out:
- There had been inadequate financial management leading to excess expenditure, inadmissible expenditure, etc.
- There were instances of submission of incorrect utilisation certificates by states.
- Even though expenditure was not/partially incurred out of the grant received under the scheme, the states submitted UCs for the entire grant received by them.
- There had been instances of inflated expenditure. As on September 2013, UCs for an amount of `2,610.07cr was outstanding from 26 states.
- Excess expenditure of Rs 106.13cr, without the approval of State level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC), was noticed in 50 projects in seven states.
- Grants of Rs 759.03cr were found parked in personal ledger accounts/ personal deposit accounts/ savings bank
account/ fixed deposit account in 11 states. - In four states – Haryana, Maharasthra, Meghalaya and West Bengal – diversion of RKVY funds (Rs 114.45cr) to other schemes/agency were noticed.