Nagaland government fails to submit UCs: CAG report

KOHIMA: The Nagaland government has failed to submit the Utilisation Certificates (UCs) of 104 grants in respect of 11 departments aggregating to Rs 217.65 crore till March 31, 2015.

This was revealed by Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG) of India in its report on State Finances for the year ended March 31, 2015, which was tabled in the Assembly today by Chief Minister T R Zeliang, who is also holding Finance portfolio.

As per the report, financial rules state that for the grants provided for specific purposes, UCs should be obtained by the departmental officers from the grantees and after verification, these should be forwarded to the Accountant General (Accounts & Entitlement) within 12 months from the date of their sanction unless specified otherwise.

However, the CAG revealed that, of the 629 grants in respect of 11 departments aggregating to Rs 830.33 crore paid up to 2014-15, 104 UCs for aggregate amount of Rs 217.65 crore were in arrear from a year to five years till March 31, 2015.

The CAG also pointed that in the absence of UCs, it could not be ascertained whether the recipients had utilised the grant for the purpose for which it was given.

The department wise outstanding UCs, as exposed by CAG Report for the year ended March 31, 2015 is as follows: In Urban Development from 2010-11 to 2013-14, a total of 46 grants amounting to 16979.51 lakh was paid but UCs are pending for 23 grants amounting to Rs 8313.49 lakh.