Govt’s revenue reduced by ₹653 crore in 201607, says audit report

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s revenue receipt fell by ₹653.11 crore in 2016-17 as compared to the previous financial year due to a decrease in non-tax revenue, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said in its latest report. It also pointed at a shortfall of ₹1,433.13 crore in grants from the Centre.

The report stated that the total expenditure during 2016-17 at ₹35,608.74 crore has increased by ₹1,858.40 crore (5.51%) over the previous year. “Of the total increase, revenue expenditure constituted ₹2,959.37 crore, while the capital expenditure and loans and advances decreased by ₹969.17 crore and ₹131.80 crore respectively,” the report said.

According to the CAG, as of 31 March 2017, the government had invested ₹18,933.05 crore in statutory corporations, rural banks, joint stock companies and cooperatives.“however, their return on this investment was 0.06%, while the government paid interest at an average rate of 8.65% on its borrowings during 2016-17,” the report said.

DISADVANTAGED GROUPS

The CAG also said that the Delhi government did not conduct any survey to identify target groups for welfare schemes such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities, safai karamcharis and the differently abled.

It also said that the company meant to finance, facilitate and promote economic activities for members of such groups never even maintained any database of intended beneficiaries. “The company has not been finalising its financial statements on regular basis. Financial statements for the year 2004-05 and subsequent years have not been audited,” the CAG report said. National Food Security (NFS) Cards covered

beneficiaries as of March 2017 were registered with other govt depts

vehicles were not registered with Transport Dept

vehicles had registration numbers of buses, two-wheelers, three-wheelers Fair Price Shop (FPS) license holders were also NFS beneficiaries and were getting Specified Food Articles (SFAS) Columns for names of mother and father were left blank or invalid names like ABCD were written

Invalid mobile numbers were provided in forms Details of dispatch/ receipt of SFAS were found to be inaccurate In 412 NFS cards, the name of a beneficiary had been repeated

THE AUDIT REPORT ALSO POINTED OUT THE POOR RATE OF RETURN ON GOVT’S INVESTMENTS