CAG pointed towards faults,govt looked the other way

Indecision and delay saw crores of public funds being wasted. For instance,the Planning Department allocated Rs 1.5 crore for providing free power connections to underprivileged sections in Faridkot district but it did not finalise the list of beneficiaries. The Water Supply and Sanitation Department spent Rs 2.67 crore but later failed to decide on the type of intercepting tanks to be laid in villages to prevent pollution of underground water.

Even Rs 52 lakh released for the much-hyped Adarsh School scheme out of the CM’s discretionary grants could not be utilised,as the scope and use of these funds was not specified by the Finance Department. While some departments caused waste by delay,other did it through haste.

The Department of Health and Family Welfare spent crores on equipment,without the necessary staff or resources to run them; and the Forest Department spent Rs 18 lakh on an incinerator,without caring to have requisite power supply to run it. Almost all the 11 government departments did not respond to reviews; their replies were not received,it says.

On boards and corporations,the CAG says there is delay in placing special audit reports (SARs) issued by the CAG (on their accounts) before the state legislature “thereby weakening legislative control over them and their financial accountability.”

Government departments are also faltering on furnishing action taken notes (ATNs) to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the legislature within three months of the presentation of the reports in the Assembly,the report adds.

‘PSEB extended undue favours to company’

Punjab lagging in power reforms,says CAG

Though the course for power reforms in the state was chalked out with identified milestones in March 2001,they have not been achieved even by March 2009,says the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has not achieved the target of reducing its transmission and distribution (T&D) losses to 18 per cent; 9.43 lakh agricultural power consumers remain unmetered; and 21.58 lakh electromechanical meters have not been replaced,it says in its overview of reforms in the power sector. The board is running far behind its deadlines,it remarks.

The task of reducing T&D losses was to be accomplished by March 2003 but even till 2008-09,the losses listed by the board were 19.91 per cent,and of 10.26 lakh agricultural consumers,less than a lakh have been metered.

It also indicts the board for extending undue favours to a Ludhiana company,Thapar Ispat Private Limited,by not clubbing power connections,which resulted in a loss of Rs 3.81 crore to the board. The failure of the board to take timely decision to avail a short-term loan resulted in avoidable interest payment of Rs 3 crore while “injudicious” appointment of a consultant,Narayan Consultancy,Baroda,for dealing with railway matters on terms of sharing expected waiver/reduction of surcharge and release of payments of Rs 75 lakh,did not bring any benefit to the board,it states.

‘Village-centric’ govt fares worst in rural development

The report of the Accountant General of Punjab on government accounts for the year 2008-09 reveals some unflattering details about the so-called rural-centric policies of the Parkash Singh Badal-led government. Amid the growing interest and pension payments,rural development has been witnessing meagre allocation and worst implementation of funds allocated. Against the Rs 74 core allocated for rural development last year,just 34 per cent was utilised as per revised estimates. Though the allocation for the sector has grown from Rs 26.99 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 70.25 crore in 2007-08 and Rs 74.4 crore in 2008-09,the expenditure graph has been falling since 2006-07. From 69 per cent in 2005-06 to 43 per cent in 2006-07,25 per cent in 2007-08,the graph has seen marginal percentage increase in 2008-09 to reach 34 per cent. Also,nearly 50 per cent of the capital outlay on other rural development programmes was done in the last quarter of the financial year,much of it in the last month of March,reveals the report.

ENS