Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 5: The department of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Jammu and Kashmir, today said that there could be irregularities in the Centrally sponsored flagship scheme of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the State.
The CAG, based on its findings presented in the State legislature here today, said that technical sanctions were not accorded in respect to 96 per cent woks taken under the Act in three different districts of the State.
“Against 46,795 works costing Rs 318.75 crore taken up in Rajouri, Udhampur and Poonch during the period 2007-2012, technical sanctions were not accorded in respect to 44,932 works (which amounts to 96 per cent of the works taken up) costing Rs 297.94 crore,” Principal Accountant General (Audit), Jammu and Kashmir, Dr S C Pandey, told reporters here today.
Asked whether this could mean that there were irregularities or misappropriations, Pandey said: “It could point to that.” However, at the same time he hastened to add that it would be premature for him to jump to the conclusion that there are any irregularities
“when bank reconciliation has not taken place and you have your account in a bank, you do not reconcile. Some money is wrongly debited to your account, you come to know about it only when you reconcile as what belongs to me and what doesn’t. So when there is no reconciliation all an auditor can say is that there is a possibility of fraud, we cannot jump to conclusion that there is a fraud,” he said.
Pandey, meanwhile, pointed out that their auditors did not get an opportunity to visit to the actual work site and their findings were based on the accounts presented to them by the concerned officials.
“When we tried to do they said this season there is no work going on,” he said.
Pandey, though, mentioned that it was an all India review and areas were picked up randomly for audit.
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