NRHM funds not used satisfactorily, six states diverted money, says CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found management of funds allocated for reproductive health under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has not been satisfactory.

The CAG report states six states — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura — diverted funds to other schemes.

It also states Rs 5,037.08 crore released in 2014-15 and 2015-16 to state treasuries were transferred to state health societies with a delay of at least 50 days. In some cases, the delay was as high as 271 days.

The financial irregularity was also reported in 15 states that had not been depicting the interest in their annual accounts. Other discrepancies include over-statement of the closing balance, under-statement of receipts and non-maintenance of records.

The report suspects misappropriation of funds in the construction of a neo-natal intensive care unit in Chitradurga. NRHM funds were also reportedly misappropriated by officials of a district health hospital in Karnataka by altering cheques for the beneficiaries of the family planning scheme and Janani Suraksha Yojana.

The shortfall in the physical infrastructure is between 24 per cent and 38 per cent. Of this, 50 per cent of the shortfall is in five states, Bihar, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Twenty states have not completed or commissioned works and have not maintained records of antenatal check-ups of pregnant women.

The CAG states spending on reproductive health in 18 states is only around Rs 42.89 crore against the requirement of Rs 132.83 crore. The unspent amount with 27 states rose from Rs 7,375 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 9,509 crore in 2015-16.

Under the Janani Suraksha Yojana incentives are not being paid to at least 12,723 women. The report says financial aid was provided to women in Kerala above the poverty line. Modern methods of vasectomy and tubectomy were not available in 40 per cent of the 300 centres surveyed.