CAG glare over account arrears of Odisha PSUs

The office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) has raised serious concern over pending arrears in accounts of operational as well as non-working public sector undertakings (PSUs) in Odisha.

The account arrears range from one to 46 years by the end of March 2013.

"The CAG has expressed concern over the position of accounts particularly of the non-working companies in the state and desires that the concerned administrative departments should prevail upon the management to initiate proper action for clearance of the arrears so that action for winding up process can be initiated”, O K Kumaran, deputy accountant general with the office of the accountant general-Bhubaneswar wrote to the secretaries of concerned departments.

The Central auditor has stressed on updating of accounts and preparation of a single account for the entire period of arrears while going for winding up of the non-operating units.

In case of working companies, the account arrears are pending since 2011-12. The PSUs in this list include Odisha Agro Industries Ltd, Odisha Lift Irrigation Ltd, Oidsha State Beverages Corporation, Odisha Small Industries Corporation, Odisha State Road Transport Corporation and Odisha State Seeds Corporation Ltd to name a few.

The CAG noted that the position of arrears in  respect of 28 non-working companies is a grave concern. Out of these 28 non-working companies, five companies- IPITRON Times, Konark Television Ltd, Odisha State Electronics Ltd, ELCO Communication Ltd and ELMARC Ltd are now under the audit jurisdiction of the accountant general (general and social sector audit), Odisha.

The state government had decided to get the names of 20 non-working enterprises struck off from the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

The decision was taken since defunct enterprises were not taking interest to strike off their names from the RoC under Ministry of Corporate Affairs despite several reminders.
Among the 20 companies, nine companies were under voluntary liquidation- Odisha Electrical Manufacturing Company Ltd, Gajapati Steel Industries Ltd, Modern Malleable Casting, Eastern Aquatic Products Ltd, Premier Bolds and Nuts Ltd, Manufacturer Electro Ltd, Modern Electronics Ltd, Odisha Boat Builders Ltd and Odisha Board Mills Ltd.

The other 11 companies whose names are set to be deleted from RoC are Mayurbhanj Textiles Ltd, New Mayurbhanj Textiles Ltd., Konark Detergent & Soaps Ltd, Odisha Fishery Development Corporation, Odisha Tools & Engineering Company Ltd, Odisha Instrument Company Ltd, Odisha State Leather Corporation Ltd, Odisha Leather Industries Ltd, Odisha State Textiles Corporation Ltd, Odisha State Commercial Transport Corporation Ltd and El Mark Ltd.