The latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), presented in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Monday, raised serious questions on the state’s financial management, implementation of government schemes and functioning of various departments. The report has revealed irregularities in the utilization of funds, delays in projects, shortfall in revenue collection, disorganized financial controls and irregularities in several departments. These shortcomings, spread across mining, irrigation, disaster relief, universities and forest departments, have raised big questions on the transparency and accountability of governance. The special thing is that the complete account of the huge amount spent in 2024-25 is not clear. Many departments did not submit the utilization certificates on time. This was considered a serious lapse in terms of transparency and accountability. The CAG found that many departments did not fully utilize the allocated budget and in some cases expenditure was incurred without approval. Cases of lack of transparency in the procurement process and non-following of competitive bidding process have also come to light. This has raised questions on the fairness of government spending. CAG has also expressed concern over the financial position of public sector undertakings (PSUs) during 2024-25. Irregularities in the Revenue Department, major irregularities in the use of SDRF and NDRF funds have also come to light in the disaster fund in 2019-20 under the Jairam government. In 2019-20, the central government had withheld ₹61.07 crore because the state misused SDRF funds. Despite this, this situation continued during 2019-23 also. According to reports, NDRF assistance of ₹254.73 crore could not be released. Because the state already had a large balance of SDRF. This caused a delay of 1 to 2 years in relief operations. Apart from this, an amount of ₹122.27 crore remained lying in the savings account instead of being invested as per rules, resulting in loss of interest. In many places, works worth ₹11.76 crore were carried out against rules, such as routine repairs and new construction, which do not fall within the scope of disaster relief. Disaster management system was also found weak. State disaster plans were not updated, district plans were not approved and disaster management teams were not formed in many places. Staff shortage was also revealed in the SDRF, where only 193 out of 326 posts were filled. Additionally, data of 9,449 works (₹172.47 crore) were not updated on the portal and a large number of utilization certificates were found pending. Irregularities in Forest Department Possible shortfall of ₹1.33 crore in CAMPA fund The CAG report has raised questions on the functioning of the Forest Department. Scrutiny of the records of Shimla-based nodal officer under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) has revealed many irregularities. Apart from this, in another case the plants present on the forest land were not included in the calculation of forest density. Due to this, there is a possibility of reduction in the assessment of CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) fund. Due to these irregularities, there is a possibility of short recovery amounting to about ₹1.33 crore. Considering this as a serious financial irregularity, CAG has stated the need to strengthen the processes and assessment system of the Forest Department. Major irregularities in the mining sector: In the CAG report, the situation of the mining sector under the Industries Department has also been described as worrying. During 2018-19 to 2022-23, more than 40 thousand cases of illegal mining were reported in the state, out of which more than 8,000 cases were registered in 2022-23 alone. The Mining Department did not prepare an action plan for 5 years. The audit found that the Mining Department did not prepare an annual action plan for 5 years, which affected inspection, royalty collection and monitoring of projects. Flaws have also come to light in revenue collection. During investigation, short recovery of royalty of ₹ 1.81 crore was found in 27 mines. Besides this, ₹74.81 lakh dead rent and ₹7.27 lakh surface rent were also not recovered in time. The monitoring system at the ground level was found to be very weak. In many districts, even GPS tracking systems, flying squads and task forces were not created, due to which illegal mining could not be effectively controlled.
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हिमाचल में CAG रिपोर्ट ने खोली वित्तीय गड़बड़ियों की पोल: HPU में अयोग्य टीचर भर्ती, रिसर्च-वर्क घटा; सिस्टम पर उठे गंभीर सवाल – Shimla News
