No focus on checking diversion of funds
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 23: Though adequate irrigation facilities are imperative to increase agricultural productivity yet State Government is working aimlessly towards tapping available irrigation potential as till date no Perspective Plan has been prepared despite recommendations from various quarters including NITI Aayog. Moreover, no proper monitoring mechanism has been evolved to ensure timely completion of schemes in this vital sector resulting into time as well as cost overrun.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India conducted Performance Audits of Lift Irrigation Schemes (LISs) and of implementation of Irrigation Schemes about eight years back and thereafter the findings and recommendations were submitted to the Irrigation and Flood Control Department for strict compliance.
The follow-up on the Performance Audits was conducted last year to assess whether the department had taken action on the findings and recommendations. However, it came to the fore during the follow-up that majority of the recommendations remained only on papers because of the non-serious approach of those at the helm of affairs in the Irrigation and Flood Control Department.
What to talk of concerned authorities of Irrigation and Flood Control Department even the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) failed to play its role in ensuring implementation of the recommendations. The PAC even didn’t discuss the findings and recommendations of the CAG thereby indicating level of non-seriousness of bureaucrats as well as legislators.
The CAG had in the Performance Audits stressed the need for formulation of Perspective Plan to analyze, assess, estimate and make projections relating to quantitative dimension of medium term and long term plans. The Perspective Plan was also important for proper and timely utilization of irrigation potential so as to enhance agricultural productivity.
However, Irrigation and Flood Control Department has yet not paid any serious attention towards this important aspect and Perspective Plan has still not been prepared as a result of which the schemes are being selected after formulation of Detailed Project Reports and taken up without prioritization. Not only the CAG even National Institute of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog has repeatedly been laying thrust on this aspect in almost all the sectors.
The highest audit institution of the country had also laid stress on establishing appropriate monitoring mechanism to ensure that projects are completed on time that too within the approved budget so that envisaged benefits are derived. However, this aspect has also not been given due attention by those at the helm of affairs in the Irrigation and Flood Control Department till date, the CAG has pointed out in its latest report.
“In the absence of monitoring mechanism the practice of completing the schemes with time overrun is going on unchecked in the State”, the CAG said while pointing out that 334 schemes were completed with time overrun of one to eight years.
“There are numerous instances which even indicate that schemes are taken up without preliminary survey, geological investigation and forest clearance etc”, the CAG said while referring to work on several khuls in Doda district which suffered damages due to sliding of slopes for want of pre-construction survey. The fate of these khuls is still hanging in balance despite lapse of several years and incurring of expenditure thereby indicating that planning is no priority in Irrigation and Flood Control Department.
As per the laid down guidelines, Administrative Approval and Technical Sanction are required before execution of work on any scheme and CAG had laid much emphasis on this aspect also. But the recommendations in this regard were also ignored in respect of many schemes. This can be gauged from the fact that 92 schemes involving an expenditure of Rs 128.47 crore were executed during the period between April 2008 to March 2016 without Administrative Approval and Technical Sanction.
In the Performance Audits the CAG had asked the Irrigation and Flood Control Department to strictly avoid diversion of funds to unauthorized activities. But this recommendation has also met with the fate of other directions and suggestions.
“Diversion of funds is going on unabated”, the CAG said in the latest report while mentioning that funds were still found diverted and utilized for unapproved activities like labour payment, silt clearance and POL.
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