Mumbai: The State government will take action against officials who have failed to submit proof of an estimated ₹70,000 crore spent on various development schemes in the last ten years. Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar has issued the ultimatum after the Union government warned the State of blocking future aid if utilisation certificates (UCs) are not submitted on time.
According to a 2015 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), successive State governments have been responsible for omissions in accounting practices. The CAG had pointed out that UCs for ₹71,563 crore distributed to various departments for 1,14,753 development projects and tender works were pending until that year.
The UC is an important book-keeping practice to ensure that funds don’t just stay in banks and are used for the right purpose.
Mr. Mungantiwar told The Hindu , “This is an issue of priority for my government, and I have now issued a warning note to the government machinery. Action will be taken against all urban-, district- and village-level officials if they don’t furnish UCs on time. A lot of our central government aid is getting stuck because we are not submitting UCs on time.”
The CAG had said that non-submission of UCs meant that all the money was lying unused, prone to misuse and illegal diversion, giving rise to rumours of a potential scam, the CAG had said.
Mr. Mungantiwar said the practice of skipping UC submissions was cultivated by the previous government, which had allowed unused funds to accumulate since 2005. “Time and again, we have reminded officials to take UC submissions seriously. But they have not responded. Now we are left with no option but to take action against them. We are preparing a plan for this,” he said.
The picture is particularly grim in the two most vital departments of the government: the Urban and Rural Development Departments, which have direct connection with the development of urban local bodies) and panchayati raj institutions. Data shows that the Urban Development Department did not collect UCs for ₹3,064 crore spent in 2009, and this number grew to ₹12,660 crore at the end of 2014. The Rural Development Department did not collect UCs for works of ₹7,279 crore in 2014.
However, Mr. Mungantiwar said the final pending UC amount was not that huge, and has come down over the years. “I am not convinced with the ₹70,000 crore figure reported the CAG. It is likely much less in my opinion, but certainly remains a big hindrance,” he said.
