In another blow to the Bihar administration, the latest Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report released on Friday has found major irregularities in delivering food grains of over 3,000 quintals, meant for the flood-affected in the state.
The report stated that while on paper it was shown that these foodgrains were transported for the flood-affected, the audit report reveals that majority of such trucks (through which the foodgrains were transported) did not exist. The registration numbers mentioned by the district officials in the records books were those of motorcycles and jeeps. The report “ apprehends that the government claim of transporting the grain to the flood-affected areas never happened, since the registration numbers of the trucks in the record books appeared to be fake.” The report suspects that “ 3115.65 quintal food grains for the flood victims have been misappropriated.”
The report stated that during February 2009, foodgrains for the flood victims were picked up from Mansi railway station. The government record showed that the foodgrains were lifted by trucks and kept at the godowns at Khagaria, from where they were later distributed to the flood-affected areas. However, “when checked it was found that majority of the trucks with the registration numbers mentioned in the record books did not exist and others belonged to motorcycles, scooters, jeeps etc...”
The report stated: Following the enquiry, it was being apprehended that the government claim of despatching those foodgrains to the flood hit zones never happened.” It is being suspected that 3111.65 quintals of foodgrains have been misappropriated”.
The CAG report has also pointed out delays in selection of roads and procedural formalities. In the performance audit of the Mukhya Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, it was found that utilisation of funds by the divisions was only “between 10 to 47 per cent and against 982 road works taken up for execution during 2006-08, only 40 per cent were completed up to March 2009. None of the roads selected for the year 2008-09 could be taken up and the quality of roads was compromised due to non-adherence to Indian Road Congress specifications and violation of mining rules and the scheme guidelines.”
The report also stated that “monitoring by higher authorities and District Steering Committees was inadequate.” The report further stated that the “ main objective for implementation of Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana suffered due to defective planning, then spreading of resources and delays in utilisation of funds.” It added: “The Government of India provided funds and support for computerisation and proper maintenance of land records through use of Information and Communication Technology. However, Bihar was not able to utilise this support due to defective planning, deficient software, inadequate input controls, absence of validation checks, use of inconsistent codes, lack of supervision, and inadequate capturing of data in the state, which was under process even after 20 years.” However, the report also stated that the “target to reduce revenue deficit to zero as per the 12th Finance Commission recommendations has been achieved and Bihar was heading to a revenue surplus.”