The Comptroller and Auditor General criticised that the LDF government in Kerala failed to implement the majority of projects mentioned in the budget for the fiscal year of 2018-19.
14 new projects were announced under 12 departments in this budget. Rs 188 crore was earmarked to execute all these projects. Out of this, Rs 18.47 crore was spent on five projects. 9 projects were shelved due to many reasons.
Though these projects were announced, the budget had not mentioned about the fund for 7 among the 9 shelved projects. The government failed to implement the majority of projects declared for the 2018-19 period.
CAG revealed these facts in ‘State Finance Audit Report’ which tabled in the assembly.
CAG found that 210 projects were not implemented in the state even after the announcement. Projects get delayed for a period from one year to 27 years. This delay in executing projects affect the beneficiaries too.
Fund allotted for projects are not utilized completely. Apart from the mandatory expenditure like salary and pension, the total expenditure was recorded 32 per cent of the original budget during 2018-19.
CAG pointed out that these findings prove government’s failure to spend money on the development and establishment of assets.
Meanwhile, additional expenditure was noted in two subjects related to assembly secretariat and central government projects. Through this, the government violated the norm which makes approval of the assembly mandatory to raise fund for expenditure.
The repeated additional expenditure is a matter of concern. All cases related to the additional expenditure should be regularized immediately. Such additional expenditure should be avoided without taking for approval in the assembly, recommended the CAG report.
The CAG also proposed action to restrict department-level officials from withdrawing more money than the fund allotted in the budget. Final proceedings in 104 cases related to misuse of funds and defalcation to the tune of Rs 214 crore are not completed yet, reported CAG.
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