State Disaster Response Funds diverted, misutilised according to Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report :

1. Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has revealed that the State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF) were diverted and misused for inadmissible works.

2. The CAG report, tabled in the assembly, thrown light on the working of districts’ administration and revealed that the SDRF funds to the tune of Rs. 2.19 crore were diverted to repair and restoration of Government office and residential buildings not damaged by disaster/ calamity, while claims of Rs. 3.19 crore for immediate relief to victims of natural calamities remained pending.  

3. CAG report charged the State Executive Committee for not discharging its duty of ensuring that money drawn from SDRF was being properly utilised. CAG found that Rs. 2.19 Crores were sanctioned and released (between January 2015 and August 2017) in five districts by Deputy Commissioners for 180 works of repair and renovation of Government offices and residential buildings, in violation of the guidelines.

4. Out of the total inadmissible amount of Rs. 2.19 crore, Rs. 1.62 crore had been sanctioned and released for 139 works during 2016-18 without any re-appropriation/ authorisation from the State Government; of which Rs. 88.19 lakh for 67 works had been booked under the  minor  head  ‘Assistance  to  Local  bodies  and  other  non-Government Bodies/Institutions’  (under  the  major  head-  Relief on  Account of  Natural  Calamities- 02 Floods, Cyclones, etc.) which constituted misuse of budget earmarked for assistance to Local Bodies/ non-Government Bodies, the CAG report further read.

5. Test-check of relief claims under SDRF for the period 2015-18 in three sub-divisions of these districts showed that whereas Rs. 2.19 crore had been misutilised, while 152 claims of gratuitous relief/ ex-gratia payment of Rs. 3.19 crore to victims of calamities had remained pending during the same period due to non-availability of funds, defeating the purpose of SDRF.

About Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) :

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is an authority, established by Article 148 of the Constitution of India, which audits all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the state governments, including those of bodies and authorities substantially financed by the government. The CAG is also the external auditor of Government-owned corporations and conducts supplementary audit of government companies, i.e., any non-banking/ non-insurance company in which Union Government has an equity share of at least 51 per cent or subsidiary companies of existing government companies. The reports of the CAG are taken into consideration by the Public Accounts Committees (PACs) and Committees on Public Undertakings (COPUs), which are special committees in the Parliament of India and the state legislatures. The CAG is also the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, the affairs of which are managed by officers of Indian Audit and Accounts Service, and has over 58,000 employees across the country.

The CAG is mentioned in the Constitution of India under Article 148 – 151.The CAG is ranked 9th and enjoys the same status as a judge of Supreme Court of India in Indian order of precedence. The current CAG of India is Rajiv Mehrishi, who assumed office on 25 September 2017. He is the 13th CAG of India.