Negligence costs Odisha Rs 1049 Cr: CAG

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, May 2: 

Even though the Odisha Government loves to play ‘Central Negligence’ song on infinite loop for political gains, negligence on its part has cost the state a whopping Rs 1049.15 crore, as per data furnished in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the Assembly today.

The government lost out on this money for not complying with the guidelines laid by 13th Finance Commission, said the report.

While 32 departments of the State Government have failed to submit the utilisation certificate of funds to the Center, 33 organisations have failed to do so.

In terms of numbers: the 32 departments are yet to submit utilisation certificates for fund worth Rs 8561 crore. For the organisations, the funds go as high as Rs 20,940 crore.

Not submitting the utilisation certificates have their repercussions in terms of dried funding over following fiscals, warned the CAG in its report citing that it violates the guidelines of 13th Finance Commission.

The report further reveals that the State Government is neck deep in debt and the condition continues to worsen.

Overall borrowings of the state have increased to Rs 7,646 crore from earlier Rs 2,290 crore. The government has paid back loans worth Rs 1,818 crore over the same period.

The government had invested Rs 3504.87 crore in statutory corporations, gramin banks, joint companies and cooperative societies by March 31, 2015. Overall savings of the government were pegged at Rs 18,774.84 crore for 2014-15, said the report.

Further, the report also stated that the revenue receipts of the state increased by 71% in 2014-15 to Rs 56,998 crore from Rs 33,276 crore of 2010-11 financial year. Similarly, the revenue expenditure has also increased to Rs 5,518 crore.

The government focused on capital expenditure last year and there has been a 43% surge in it as compared to the year before, the report highlighted.