Shillong, July 27: The Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) has failed to submit Utilization Certificates (UCs) amounting to Rs 9.71 crore, even after a lapse of more than five years, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report for the year ended March 31, 2019.

The JHADC received grants-in-aid from the state government for various schemes, including Article 275 (1) of the Constitution (Rs 181.37 lakh), Special Assistance Grant (Rs 3357.00 lakh), and areas not included in Part IX and IXA of the Constitution (Rs 1074.90 lakh) during 2015-16 to 2017-18.

According to the terms and conditions outlined in the sanctioned order, the grant was to be utilized within the financial year.

“However, out of Rs 46.13 crore sanctioned by Government of India during 2015-16 to 2017-18, UCs amounting to Rs 9.71 crore had not been submitted even after lapse of more than five years (August 2022),” the CAG stated.

In reply, the JHADC stated (December 2023) that the council has submitted a utilisation certificate for an additional Rs 280.16 lakh out of Rs 3,357 lakh received under the Special Assistant Grant. Hence, a total of Rs 3,351.79 lakh has been certified, leaving a balance of Rs 5.21 lakh.

For funds amounting to Rs 181.37 lakh received under Article 275 (1) and Rs 1,074.90 lakh received under Areas excluded in Part IX and IXA of the Constitution, the schemes/works are completed and the utilisation certificates for the remaining amounts are under process of submission.

Audit observed that the council could not submit UCs even after five years have elapsed since the funds were sanctioned, indicating that there is a lack of effective monitoring and oversight of expenditure within the council. Though the council has taken action for submission of UCs pertaining to grants received under Article 275 (1) and Special Assistance Grant, it was silent on the outstanding UCs of Rs 570.45 lakh (53%) against grants received under Areas excluded in Part IX and IXA. Thus the total outstanding UCs remains at Rs 690.62 lakh.

Meanwhile, the CAG has recommended the council to strengthen the mechanism for implementation of schemes/projects in a time bound manner to avoid undue delays in submissions of UCs and the risk of misutilisation of funds.

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