CAG says non-recovery of Rs 763 crore revenue during FY12 in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said there were cases of under-assessment/ non-recovery of revenue by Rajasthan government to the tune of Rs.763.52 crore during the year ended March 31, 2012.

The CAG report tabled in the state Assembly yesterday covers six major departments-- Land Revenue, Stamp Duty and Registration Fees, Commercial Taxation, Transport, Mining and Excise.

"Test-check during 2011-12 revealed under-assessment, non/short levy of taxes and loss of revenue, failure to raise demands, and other irregularities aggregating to Rs.3,119.98 cr in 47,716 cases", it said.

The departments recovered Rs 44.26 cr in 8,789 cases at the instance of audit during the stipulated year.

Giving the highlights of the report, CAG's Senior Deputy Accountant General Archna Gurjar told reporters here today that the auditor found major lapses in the sale and consumption of Lanced Poppy Heads (LPH) in Opium capsule.

Quoting the report, she said there were cases of under-assessment/ non-recovery of revenue to the tune of Rs 763.52 crore by the state government during 2011-12 fiscal.

The CAG report said the state Excise department failed to collect and dispose of LPH from the cultivators who had not submitted the declaration forms, causing a deficit of Rs 44.67 crore.

The physical verification reports submitted by the Excise Inspectors regarding confirmation of non-availability of LPH with cultivators were incomplete and inconsistent, it said.

CAG, in its recommendations, asked the Rajasthan government to consider reporting the list of defaulter cultivators to the Central Narcotic Department (CND) so that the licences of defaulter opium cultivators are not renewed,. It also suggested fixing the norms of LPH according to per kg production of opium permitted by CND.

On Land revenue side, CAG said that revenue department had not amended Rajasthan Industrial Area Allotment Rules, 1959 for allotment of land resulting in forgoing of revenue of Rs 1.13 crore.

The department had not taken steps for regularisation of land held by Airport Authority of India and Airforce. This resulted in non-realisation of cost of land valued at Rs.487.58 crore. Besides, in two other cases, the cost of land of Rs.3.19 crore was not recovered, the report said.

On a question related to the state undertakings, Gurjar said CAG was trying to bring within its ambit, the functioning of Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), and Rajasthan Housing Board (RHB), and hospitals built on land obtained from the state government at cheap prices.