Bihar's Rs 70,000cr Utilization Certificate Issue

Patna, Jul 24 (PTI) The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pulled up the Bihar government for failing to submit utilisation certificates for work worth Rs 70,877 crore.

The report of the CAG on State Finances for the year 2023-24 was tabled in the state assembly on Thursday.

"Despite the requirement of submitting UCs within the stipulated time period, 49,649 outstanding UCs of Rs 70,877.61 crore were not received by the Accountant General (Accounts & Entitlements), Bihar, as on March 31, 2024," it said.

In the absence of UCs, there is no assurance that funds disbursed have been used for the intended purpose, it added.

"Moreover, high pendency of UCs is fraught with the risk of embezzlement, misappropriation and diversion of funds," it said.

Of the total Rs. 70,877.61 crore, Rs 14,452.38 crore pertained to the period up to 2016-17.

The top five defaulting departments are Panchayati Raj (Rs 28,154.10 crore), Education (Rs 12,623.67 crore), Urban Development (Rs 11,065.50 crore), Rural Development (Rs 7,800.48 crore) and Agriculture (Rs 2,107.63 crore), the report said.

The CAG noted that despite the requirement of submitting Detailed Contingent (DC) Bills against the advance money withdrawn through Abstract Contingent (AC) Bills, DC bills against 22,130 AC bills of Rs 9,205.76 crore were pending for submission.

"Non-submission of DC bills within the prescribed period breaches financial discipline and enhances the risk of misappropriation of public money," it said.

For the financial year 2023-24, the total budget of the state was Rs 3.26 lakh crore, the CAG said, noting that the state spent only Rs 2.60 lakh crore or 79.92 per cent of the total budget.

"The State surrendered only Rs 23,875.55 crore (36.44 per cent) of its total savings of Rs 65,512.05 crore. During the financial year 2023-24, the Liabilities of the State increased by 12.34 per cent over the previous year," it said.

"Internal debt contributed 59.26 per cent of the total outstanding liabilities of the State. Net liabilities under Internal Debt increased by 13.51 per cent (Rs 28,107.06 crore), over the previous year," it added.

In 2023-24, the state could not achieve the fiscal targets as fixed by the XVth Finance Commission, the CAG said.