` 15 crore spent, but no beggar rehabilitated: CAG report

The social welfare department failed to rehabilitate a single beggar despite having spent Rs 15 crore on the same purpose between 2006-13, says a CAG report tabled in the state assembly on Monday.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) further says the state government established eight certified institutions at Agra, Allahabad, Faizabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Mathura and Varanasi with the capacity to accommodate 200 beggars each under the UP Prohibition of Beggary Act, 1975.

The aim was to eliminate beggary in public places by providing training to the beggars for their rehabilitation.

While examining the records of the certified institutions, the auditors attached with CAG found that no beggars were detained for training or rehabilitation in the institutes at Kanpur, Allahabad and Faizabad. At Agra, Lucknow, Mathura and Varanasi, the detention was much below the capacity.

The overall capacity utili- sation of the eight certified institutes was only 1% during 2006-13.

Under the Act, police were empowered to apprehend beg- gars and to detain them at institutes for six months after obtaining court orders. Despite this, the police did not conduct raids to apprehend beggars and get them enrolled at the institutes, the CAG observed.

Still, the state government paid Rs 20.97 lakh as rent of the buildings in which the institutes were being run. Another Rs 4.41 lakh was paid as electricity charges. The personnel of various cadres deployed at the institutes were paid salary and allowances to the tune of Rs 14.71 crore. Indicting the social welfare department officers, the CAG observed that the objective of eliminating beggary in public places by providing rehabilitation was not achieved despite the expenditure of Rs 15 crore. MLNMC, ALLAHABAD OFFERING UNRECOGNISED DEGREE TO STUDENTS

The CAG has slammed the Moti Lal Nehru Medical College (MLNMC), Allahabad for offering unrecognised postgraduate degree and diploma courses to students. While inspecting Swaroop Rani Nehru hospital run by the medical college, the audit team found that patients were supplied rotten eggs and undated milk packets. The drug supplied was not sent to the drug controller for quality test nor had the suppliers furnished test report of the medicine.