M A I N   N E W S

CAG on Natural Calamities
Funds misused, overused, not used...
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 15
The Comptroller and Auditor General has found inadequacy and lack of preparedness in tackling natural calamities like the tsunami. It has also held the Ministry of Environment and Forests responsible for failing to enforce laws like the Coastal Regulation Zone which would have prevented destruction of coastal areas.

In its performance audit of the tsunami relief and rehabilitation programme of the Union Home ministry, the CAG called for preparing an accurate data base of all fishing vessels as required under the Marine Fishermen Regulation Act, according to priority, to replace fully damaged registered catamarans and stock registers of relief material procured to be maintained properly.

The CAG regretted that the mechanism of assessment of the extent of damage and financial assistance at the Union as well as the state-level needed to be made transparent notifying the general criteria of assessment so that overpitched assessments were avoided.

It noted that deficiencies in financial management were reflected in cases of "irregular, excess and avoidable expenditure. Cases of non-utilisation and surrender of funds were also noticed. The process of identification of beneficiaries was deficient resulting in ineligible persons receiving relief and eligible persons being deprived."

The CAG said there were delays in rehabilitation activities in respect of construction of permanent houses and basic infrastructure. "Imprudent procurement led to non-utilisation of relief materials. Monitoring needs to improve at the state as well as Union levels."

Emphasising that responsibility should be fixed for procurement of unnecessary items, undistributed items and short accounting of material, the CAG said top priority should be accorded to acquisition of land and construction of permanent shelters. Construction of houses within the Coastal Regulation Zone should be reviewed.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) needs to critically review the status of utilisation of funds by calling for periodic reports regularly and communicating the results of such review at a sufficiently high level in respective state governments for ensuring improvement.

The MHA may also consider introducing a system of rewards/incentives to such states which show good compliance with the reporting requirement and display financial discipline so as to encourage good practices and transparency in reaching relief properly to the affected people.

The MHA in consultation with the state governments and the Ministry of Finance should put in place a generally acceptable system of assessment of the damage and determine at least the general criteria based on which the quantum of assistance would be calculated in natural calamities so as to bring in transparency and institute a good management practice.