'301 annual accounts of LAHDC, 30 bodies in J&K still awaited'

The Comptroller and Auditor General has criticised the functioning of Ladakh Autonomous Hill District Council (LAHDC) and termed the non-submission of over 300 accounts by it and 30 other autonomous bodies in Jammu and Kashmir as a "serious financial irregularity".
In its report on state finances, the CAG has said that LAHDC Leh and LAHDC Kargil, in the frontier region of Ladakh, failed to submit accounts for audit since their inception despite substantial sums being released to the councils.
"LAHDC, Leh has failed to submit accounts for audit since its inception in 1995-96 although substantial sums are being released to the council and unspent balances at the end of the year remain credited in a non-lapsable Fund in the Public Account of the state," the report said.

The CAG added "same is the position in respect of LAHDC, Kargil which came into existence in 2004-05 and the accounts are in arrears since inception."
The report added that LAHDC, Leh received Rs 263.14 crore in grant during 2011-12, while LAHDC, Kargil received Rs 243.33 crore.
The report states that as many as 301 annual accounts of 32 bodies, including LAHDC Leh and Kargil, were not submitted for the audit, which, it says, has "deprived" the State Legislature to get a feedback on their activities and financial performance.
Some of these bodies include Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Jammu Municipal Corporation, universities of Kashmir and Jammu, Sports Council, Academy of Art and Culture, Khadi and Village Industries Board, Institute of Management and Public Administration and the Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Kashmir and as well as in Jammu.