The state government is yet to submit utilisation certificates (UCs) for central assistance worth Rs 7,939.98 crore (as on March 2014). The amount is pending on 30 administrative departments.
"The huge pendency is mainly on account of non-adherence to existing instructions in Odisha General Financial Rule (OGFR) for watching timely receipts of UCs by the heads of departments and further release of grants to them as a matter of routine without insisting on UCs for earlier grants. The government which is the grantor received no assurance about the correct use of its grants. Such delays are also prone to fraudulent expenditure/transactions, diversion of funds and creation of fake assets for which the responsibility would be apportionable on the HODs", said a report by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) on state finances for the year ended March 2014.
OGFR provides that for the grants in which conditions are attached to their utilisation, UCs should be furnished by the grantee institutions in duplicate countersigned by the disbursing authorities so as to reach the administrative department by June 1 of the succeeding year.
Through the instrument of UC, the grantor obtains assurance about non-diversion and proper utilisation of the funds placed at the disposal of the grantee and also gets a certificate from the grantee that the intended list of works have been executed. Any delay in furnishing this report to the grantor or any inaccuracy in such reporting essentially undermines this control mechanism designed to ensure non-diversion and proper utilisation, the CAG report stated.
The report said UCs for grants in aid to the tune of Rs 16,829.84 crore were outstanding against 34 grantee institutions (as of March 2014).
The major defaulting departments are panchayati raj (Rs 6,249.59 crore), planning & coordination (Rs 3,034.90 crore), housing & urban development (Rs 1,926.42 crore), ST, SC & Minorities & Backward Class Development (Rs 1,096.51 crore), rural development (Rs 941.88 crore) and school & mass education (Rs 581.07). Together, these departments constitute 82.18 per cent of total outstanding UCs against grants-in-aid.
