CAG flags Rs 3.69 lakh crore cess transfer shortfall; RJD MP demands accountability in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: A Rajya Sabha member from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Thursday flagged a significant shortfall in the central government's transfer of cess collections to designated funds, citing a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that revealed lapses spanning five decades.

Raising the matter during Zero Hour, RJD MP A D Singh from Bihar said the CAG has found that as of FY 2023-24, the government failed to transfer as much as Rs 3.69 lakh crore of cess collections to their intended funds -- with the earliest lapses dating back to 1974.

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Singh highlighted several specific instances. The Oil Industry Development Board, he said, had Rs 902.40 crore collected between 1974-75 and 1991-92, with subsequent shortfalls resulting in a cumulative deficit of Rs 2.95 crore up to FY 2023-24.

In the health and education sector, Rs 37,537 crore remained untransferred between 2018-19 and 2023-24.

The Investor Education and Protection Fund recorded a shortfall of Rs 2,505.5 crore, while the Monetisation of National Highways Fund showed a deficit of Rs 5,968.1 crore.

The RJD MP also pointed to what he described as a significant discrepancy in official accounts. While the finance ministry claimed that Rs 3.66 lakh crore had been transferred between 2018-19 and 2023-24, government accounts reflected only Rs 2.65 lakh crore -- a gap he said necessitated urgent reconciliation.

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"These persistent lapses undermine channelling cess funds to their intended development purposes," Singh said, adding that citizens deserved transparency and assurance that their cess contributions were being directed towards welfare and development objectives.

Addressing his remarks to the Chair, Singh posed two pointed questions to the government: Why these cess collections were not transferred to their designated funds, and what immediate corrective steps have been taken to prevent such lapses from recurring.