CAG flag ’embezzlement risk’ in Bihar: Where is Rs 70,877 crore? The report says that a assurance fund has been used for the intended purpose. Bharat News

New Delhi: Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said that the Bihar government has not presented the certificate (UCS) used for funds for an amount of Rs 70,877.61 crore. The conclusions were part of the CAG report on state finance for the year 2023-24, which was introduced in the state assembly on Thursday. The report said, “Despite the need to deposit UCS within the stipulated time period, 49,649 arrears worth Rs 70,877.61 crore were not received by Accountant General (Accounts and Entitetelements), Bihar on March 31, 2024. The report states that without these UCS, there is no confirmation that the funds issued were used for its intended purpose. “In addition, the UCS’s high pendency is full of embezzlement, misconduct, and the risk of wealth,” it said. Of the total pending amount, Rs 14,452.38 crore belongs to the period before 2016-17. According to the CAG, five departments with the most pending UCs are Panchayati Raj (Rs 28,154.10 crore), education (Rs 12,623.67 crore), urban development (Rs 11,065.50 crore), rural development (Rs 7,800.48 crore), and agriculture (2,1077.6307.6307.6307.6307.6307.6307.6307.6307.6307.6307.63.63 million). The report also paid attention to delay in detailed casual (DC) bill depositing. These are necessary for the money withdrawn in advance using abstract contingency (AC) bills. According to the report, the DC bill of Rs 9,205.76 crore was pending against 22,130 AC bills. The CAG said, “Non-proportion of DC bills violates financial discipline and increases the risk of misuse of public funds,” the CAG said. For the financial year 2023–24, Bihar had a total budget of Rs 3.26 lakh crore. Out of this, 2.60 lakh crore rupees were spent, which was 79.92 percent of the total budget. The CAG report also said, “The state surrendered only Rs 23,875.55 crore (36.44 percent) in the total savings of Rs 65,512.05 crore. During the financial year 2023-24, the state’s liabilities increased by 12.34 percent during the last year.”The report said, “Pure liabilities under internal loan increased by 13.51 percent (Rs 28,107.06 crore) as compared to the previous year.”