Shillong, March 31: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has recommended the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) to improve the collection efficiency of revenue from own resources by implementing robust monitoring mechanisms like maintaining up-to-date database of all assesses to bring to an end to the leakage of revenue.

In its report for the year ended March 31, 2020, the CAG has stated that against total revenue receipts of Rs 96.23 crore, KHADC share of royalty on Mines & Minerals and GIA together accounted for 82 percent which indicates total dependence of KHADC on external sources as against its own sources of funds.

“Further, the Council’s revenue from own sources has also shown a decline of 12.16 per cent (Rs 2.34 crore) from the previous year which is a worrying trend,” it observed.

The total revenue receipts of KHADC increased by 49 percent from Rs 64.66 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 96.23 crore during 2019-20.

The improvement in revenue receipts during 2019-20 was primarily due to increase in Grants-in-aid from Government of India by 690 percent as compared to 2018-19.

However, revenue receipts under Mines & Minerals (share of royalty) and taxes on vehicles received from the state government have sharply declined by 93.27 per cent and 100 per cent respectively as compared to the previous year due to non-receipt of shares from the state government, the report said. It further aid the receipt of revenue in the form of share of royalty on mines & minerals and share of taxes on vehicles are one of the major sources of revenue of the KHADC, however the same has been showing a declining trend from 61 per cent of the total revenue receipts during 2017-18 to two per cent during 2019-20.

Additionally, the CAG informed that during 2019-20, KHADC has incurred Rs 52.37 crore out of the total revenue receipt of Rs 96.23 crore, which represents expenditure of 54 per cent as compared to 91 per cent during 2018-19.

The decrease in revenue expenditure during 2019-20 is due to less implementation of works and less purchases than the previous year. The decrease in revenue expenditure during 2019-20 was primarily due to decrease in expenditure under Information & Publicity from Rs 0.76 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 0.03 crore in 2019-20 (96 per cent) and Social Security & Welfare from Rs 7.59 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 0.55 crore in 2019-20 (93 per cent).

Further, during 2019-20, Secretariat General Services (45 percent), Public Works (15 per cent) and Forest (13 per cent) together accounted for 3 per cent of the revenue expenditure leaving small percentage for other heads of expenditure including important heads such as Land Revenue, Social Security & Welfare and Public Health Sanitation & Water Supply.

The CAG has also stated that the capital expenditure of the KHADC during 2019-20 has decreased by 74 per cent from Rs 69.00 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 17.67 crore in 2019-20. The decrease in capital expenditure during 2019-20 was seen across all departments.

Out of the total available funds of Rs 237.12 crore during the year 2019-20, only seven per cent (that is Rs 17.67 crore) was spent as capital expenditure, which is quite low as compared to previous year. Reason for the same was not found on record.

The report also observed that the variation between the budget estimates (BEs) and actual receipts and expenditure during 2019-20 indicated that the KHADC had prepared Bes without taking into account the actual position.

Budgetary estimates were off the mark by a considerable margin, and control over the execution and monitoring of budget was inadequate.

The Council had utilized only 29 percent of total available funds during the year 2019-20, out of which 22 per cent was spent on revenue expenditure while seven per cent spent on capital projects of the Council. This indicates that the Council has not yet been able to develop capacity to expend the planned expenditure, particularly capital expenditure, it stated.

Meanwhile, the CAG has also recommended the need for the Council to improve its capital spending and implement schemes in a timely and efficient manner. The Council also needs to strengthen its capacity commensurate with its proposals and budget provisions.

The Council may undertake detailed budgetary analysis and reviews to identify untapped eligible revenue resources and for estimating revenue receipts more accurately, it further stated.

Also Read: Recycle Bazzar: Transforming Shillong’s Waste Crisis into an Opportunity

Also Watch

Find latest news from every corner of Northeast India at hubnetwork.in, your online source for breaking news, video coverage.

Also, Follow us on-

Twitter-twitter.com/nemediahub

Youtube channel- www.youtube.com/@NortheastMediaHub2020

Instagram- www.instagram.com/ne_media_hub

Download our app from playstore – Northeast Media Hub