Bihar Govt Denies Rs 70,000 Crore Rip-off Allegation, Calls It ‘Regular’ Accounting Course of | India Information
The federal government termed the problem a routine accounting course of fairly than monetary misconduct.
In the course of the lately concluded monsoon session of the Bihar Meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary tabled the Comptroller and Auditor Normal (CAG) report for the monetary 12 months 2023-24.
The report raised considerations over delays in submitting utilisation certificates for funds sanctioned underneath varied authorities schemes.
The CAG identified that within the absence of well timed UCs, it stays unclear whether or not the allotted funds have been spent for his or her meant functions, main the opposition to allege a Rs 70,877 crore rip-off.
In a press convention held on Tuesday, Principal Secretary of the Finance Division Anand Kishore categorically denied any monetary irregularity.
He said, “That is neither embezzlement nor a rip-off. The pending UCs are a part of a standard accounting course of adopted by all states. It doesn’t indicate fund misappropriation.”
Kishore additional mentioned the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Bihar Legislature would now evaluate the report.
The departments involved, together with the Finance Division, will likely be given a chance to elucidate the pending certificates, following which the ultimate report will likely be submitted to the federal government.
Offering knowledge to again the federal government’s stand, Kishore revealed, “In FY 2022-23, UCs price Rs 1,09,093 crore have been efficiently adjusted. Following the discharge of the CAG report, a further Rs 51,750 crore price of UCs have been cleared.”
He additionally famous that this 12 months marks the bottom pendency of UCs within the final 5 years, indicating enhancements in monetary monitoring and compliance.
Whereas the opposition has used the CAG findings to assault the credibility of the ruling JD(U)-BJP coalition, the federal government’s clarification might shift the main target to procedural reforms fairly than corruption.
Nonetheless, because the matter now heads to the PAC, political tensions over transparency and accountability in public spending are more likely to proceed.
