Maha contingency funds used improperly: CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has rapped the Maharashtra government, saying it used the funds meant for contingency plans "meagerly" and "improperly" and the overall expenditure was "irregular".
In its report on state finances tabled before the Maharashtra Legislature today, the CAG stated that during 2014-15, contingency funds were not used appropriately.
Contingency funds for purposes like natural calamities, forestry and wildlife (revenue and forest department), education, sports, art and culture (school education and sports), major and medium irrigation (water resource), social services (urban development) and other administration services (co-operation, marketing and textile) were used meagerly, the report stated.

The CAG observed that for nine departments, the actual expenditure of Rs 553.75 crore ranged between zero and 96 per cent of the sanctioned amount.
"The fact that, in three out of 11 sanctions, advances amounting to Rs 11.03 crore were not drawn by the departments concerned indicated the funds were not for emergency nature," it stated, adding in some of the cases, the contingency funds were spent on purposes that were not meant for it.
According to the CAG, during 2014-15, of the 11 sanctions issued by the Finance Department for an amount of Rs 4,370.21 crore, eight withdrawals amounting to Rs 559.45 crore were made from the funds.

"In the rest three cases, the nature of expenditure for which the departments concerned had obtained advances from the fund were foreseeable. Therefore, the withdrawals of the contingency fund was irregular," the CAG stated.

These three cases are, construction of memorial of Hind Kesari Maruti Mane at his birthplace Kavathepiran in Sangli district, various administrative expenses for the office of State Co-operative Election Authority and expenses of Enquiry Committee regarding allotment of flats under discretionary quota, the report said.
The contingency fund of the state is meant for meeting expenditure of an unforeseen and emergent nature.
"The fund is in the nature of an imprest and its corpus is Rs 150 crore, which was temporarily raised from time to time. The closing balance of the fund as on March 31, 2015, was Rs 2,150 crore," the report stated.