KOHIMA, MARCH 23: Despite being a resource crunch state, Government Departments in Nagaland have been charged for misappropriating a total of Rs. 207.25 crore during the 2019-20 fiscal.
This involves 26 different misappropriations or theft of Government money, revealed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report tabled in the ongoing Budget session 2021-22 of the State Assembly by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday.
The CAG has named at 12 Departments for siphoning Rs 200.65 crore and clubbed some other Departments for theft of Rs 6.6 crore during the period.
The Department of School Education has embezzled Rs.82.79 crore in two different cases with a sum of Rs.70 crore awaiting departmental and criminal investigation.
An amount of Rs.25.28 crore siphoned off in the Power Department awaits departmental and criminal investigation.
The CAG reported three misappropriation cases amounting to Rs. 23.79 crore in the Public Works Department (Road & Bridges) Department.
Other Departments caught under misappropriation are Planning and Coordination – Rs. 20.23 crore, Tourism – Rs. 14.20 crore, Health & Family Welfare – Rs. 13.70 crore, Taxes – Rs. 6.45 crore, Public Health Engineering – Rs. 5.05 crore, Municipal Affairs – Rs. 4.11 crore, Rural Development – Rs. 3.07 crore, Land Records and Survey – Rs.1.24 crore, Technical Education – Rs. 1.08 crore and various unnamed Departments – Rs.6.06 crore.
The CAG report maintained that the Nagaland Lokayukta, Directorate of Investigation, Nagaland, has informed that there had been four cases of loss to Government due to theft, misappropriation, loss of Government material etc. involving Rs. 2.77 crore out of which an amount of Rs. 2.54 crore had been recovered.
In this, the CAG has asked the Departments concerned to furnish a suo motu Explanatory Note (EN) on the Audit Reports within one month of placing the Reports in the Legislature.
The Government should without waiting for any notice or call from the Public Accounts Committee submit a suo motu Explanatory Note indicating the action taken or proposed to be taken within a period of three months from the date of laying of the Audit Reports, it said.
(Page News Service)
