The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has indicted the Assam government and the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) for misappropriating an amount of `411.08 crores over the last three years.
This has been revealed by the CAG in its special audit which was ordered by the home ministry in the wake of allegation of `1,000 crores scam in the NCHAC since 2001.
If the CAG report is any indicator, the total fund being misappropriated by the Gogoi government in the NCHAC may be much more than `1,000 crores as there was not a single department of the council where CAG could find evidence of money being properly utilised.
Though CAG audited the accounts of the NCHAC and the state government for a specific period from 2007-08 to 2009-10 on financial irregularities, it came across glaring instances of financial misappropriation of crores of rupees. Even the fund for farmers, old age pension, safe drinking water and nutritious food for poor children were siphoned off.
Neither the state government nor the district council could reply the inspection report of the CAG besides failing to produce the records to justify the utilisation of the fund.
A copy of the special audit report, in possession of this newspaper, has categorically pointed out that necessary records of financial transaction by the state government and the council were not made available to the audit team.
The CAG report has also indicated that Assam government remained a silent spectator when funds were being transferred to the bank accounts from treasury without any voucher or valid sanction of the authority. The treasury operates under the direct control of the state government. In most of the reply to the CAG, the state government and the council took the refrain of CBI and NIA for keeping the records in seizure but at the same time, it was also noticed that government was reluctant to make available all the records. The CAG in its finding could not establish if entire budget sanctioned for the council really reached to Halflong as state government failed to make available records pertaining to transfer of fund from consolidated account of the state.
The CAG also found discrepancy between the fund set aside in the budget of the state government and receipt of the fund by the autonomous council. “As per records furnished by the government of Assam and verification of records with the statement of receipt of fund from government against the budget allotment, it was seen that during 2007-08 to 2009-10, the total release of fund shown by the government was `15140.11 lakh but council received `42404.34 lakh which was `27264.23 lakh more than the fund released by the government,” observed the CAG report.