CAG recommends, “The need for closer analysis, monitoring and directed efforts by the state government of Maharashtra over provided funds”
Devendra Fadnavis was in the spotlight today. On the last day of the Nagpur winter session, NCP leader Jayant Patil took a dig at the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis saying the BJP government in the last five years did a scam of nearly 65 thousand crores rupees in Maharashtra. Referring reports by the Comptroller General of India. Maharashtra’s financial condition in the financial year 2017-18 has revealed the fact the lack of transparency in the transaction and in the collection of the data. The CAG revealed shocking details about debt and non-submission of utilization certificates.
On page number 67, the report says, “Non-submission of 32750 Utilisation Certificates amounting Rs 65,921.35 crores as on March 31, 2018, indicated lack of proper monitoring by the department in utilization of grants sanctioned for specific purposes. Further, there was no assurance that the money was actually incurred during the financial year of the purpose for which it was sanctioned by legislatures. High pendency of UCs was fraught with the risk of misappropriation of funds and fraud.”
Utilization Certificate is generally issued after completion of work. So, the non-submission of such a huge number of certificates points to a grave issue.
CAG also shed light on another topic that was debt. CAG reports clearly read that the state government will have to be cautious now while borrowing. CAG recommends: “The need for closer analysis, monitoring and directed efforts by the state government of Maharashtra towards utilization of hire existing cash balances, before resorting to fresh borrowings, is urgently indicated.”
The critical financial condition of the state which is forcing it to repay the debt by borrowing more is also highlighted in the report. It says on page 51 of the report that, “the average expenditure on debt servicing during 2013-2018 was Rs 34,897 crores which accounted for 88.1 percent of average public debt receipts Rs 39,600 crore during the same period, implying that a larger percentage of debt was being used for debt servicing.”
The CAG also says that the debts are huge and the state government will have to plan accordingly. “The maturity profile of the public debt indicates that the liability of the state to repay the debt during the periods 2018-19, 2019-21, 2021-23 would be Rs 23,088.93 crores, Rs 40,739.91 crores, and Rs 60,921.17 crores respectively which may put a strain on the government budget during that period. Further, Rs 1 lakh 84 thousand 356.78 crores i.e. 56.37 percent of the total public debt would be repayable within the next seven years.”
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