Make officials accountable, says CAG as J&K fails to submit 2,205 utilisation certificates
THE UTILISATION CERTIFICATES INVOLVING ₹10,441.58 CRORE ARE OUTSTANDING IN THE UT
JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir has failed to submit 2,205 utilisation certificates (UCS) for an amount of over Rs 10,441 crore as on March 31, 2020, the Comptroller and Auditor and General of India (CAG) has said, noting that officials should be held accountable for the lapse.
It said the non-submission of the UCS means that authorities have not explained as to how funds were spent over the years and is fraught with the “risk of misappropriation”.
As per the CAG’S latest report on state finances, a total of 2,205 UCS involving Rs 10,441.58 crore was outstanding in J&K, of which 1,370 UCS amounting to Rs 5,972.99 crore was outstanding for more than a year.
In a utilisation certificate (UC), it is certified that the funds raised or taken by the entity is used for the intended purposes.
The department-wise breakup of outstanding UCS shows that 86.53% of the total amount of outstanding UCS pertained to five departments of tourism, health, agriculture and housing and 55.53% of outstanding UCS pertained to the education department only, the report said.
Financial rules state that for the grants provided for specific purposes, UCS should be obtained by the department officers from grantees and after verification, these should be forwarded to the state’s accountant general within 18 months from the date of sanction, it said.
As is evident from the data,
UCS are outstanding for the past many years.
Out of the 2,029 UCS outstanding as on 30 October 2019, 304 UCS (15%) are pending since 2014-15, the report said.
The CAG took a dig at the J&K administration pointing out that the non-submission of the utilisation certificates means that the authorities have not explained as to how the funds were spent over the years.
The CAG said non-submission and delay in submission of accounts by the bodies receiving substantial funding from the state budget is a serious financial irregularity.