CAG indicts 10 Jharkhand PSUs for loss of Rs1,894 cr

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said the all the 10 state public sector undertakings (PSUs) in Jharkhand incurred losses to the tune of Rs 1,894.39 crore and made infructuous investment of Rs 74.30 crore for the year ended 31 March 2009. The report was presented in Parliament recently. CAG report said the state government had invested Rs 3,640.53 crore in 10 PSUs during the year for which accounts had not been finalised.

It said in the absence of accounts and their subsequent audit, it cannot be ensured whether the investments and expenditure incurred had been properly accounted for and the purpose for which the amount was invested was achieved. Thus the government’s investment in such PSUs remain outside the scrutiny of the State Legislature. The CAG report pointed out that delay in finalisation of accounts would result in fraud and leakage of public money apart from violation of the provisions of the Companies Act 1956.

The report said that the state government had not formulated any dividend policy under which all PSUs were required to pay a minimum return on the paid-up share capital contributed by the state government.