The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has slammed the railways for incurring losses of Rs 2,161.5 crore, owing to non-compliance of rules and instructions, unproductive expenditure in planning, detention of rolling stock and deficiencies in contract management.
In a report tabled in Parliament today, the apex government auditor also pointed to deficiencies in fixation and charging of haulage rates of container traffic, planning and execution of new projects and 'Tatkal' and advanced reservation systems.
Critical of railways' execution of projects, CAG asked it to review all capital works in progress and take decisions on the closure of those projects where road connectivity was available, especially unremunerative lines, where progress had been negligible over the years. “There is a need to focus more on viable projects,” said the report. It asked the railways to contain expenditure within the authorised limits of Parliament.
The CAG studied 50 new projects sanctioned more than 10 years ago and found they were still incomplete, even after Rs 8,549 crore was spent on them, with no certainty of their completion in the “foreseeable future”.