Audit points out discrepancies in research centre working
A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pointed out various discrepancies in the functioning of the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) in Sector 19, Chandigarh.
The Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), an autonomous research institute, was registered as a scientific and educational charitable society under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860, in Chandigarh in July 1978. Since 1984, both Government of India and Punjab Government have been supporting the CRRID in its endeavours by providing regular financial grants on a matching basis through the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi, and the Department of Planning, Government of Punjab, Chandigarh.
The audit of the department was conducted from 2021 to 2024. The discrepancies ranged from delayed release of grants by the funding agencies to non-recovery of guest room charges. The report pointed out that the delayed release of grants from the funding agencies led to the CRRID incurring a loss of ?68.92 lakh in bank overdraft interest. The CRRID is supported by the ICSSR with a 45 per cent grant, which is matched by the Punjab Government. The remaining 10 per cent funds are arranged by the institute.
According to the report, the CRRID utilised funds from the State Bank of India, Sector 7, Chandigarh branch, in the form of overdrafts amounting to ?1.66 crore during 2021-22, resulting in interest charges of ?68.92 lakh up to March 31, 2024.
The report further revealed that the outstanding overdraft balance, which was ?1.99 crore as on April 1, 2021, increased to ?3.85 crore by March 31, 2024. Due to the huge overdraft, the bank attached the earned interest from fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) of a ?5 crore corpus fund provided by the Punjab Government to the overdraft account. The interest earned on these FDRs, which was part of the grant from the Punjab Government, was directly transferred to the overdraft account by the bank.
The audit observed that despite the mounting overdraft and interest burden, the administration of the CRRID made no significant efforts to reduce it, leading to spending of grant funds on interest payments.
Meanwhile, during a test check of records, it was found that a grant of ?25 lakh for the financial year 2023-24 had not been received by CRRID.
The audit also pointed out the non-recovery of guest room charges amounting to ?1.32 lakh. During the check of records, it was noted that the Department of Animal Husbandry, Government of Punjab, had booked faculty guest rooms at the CRRID from January 22 to January 24. However, the bill for ?1.32 lakh had not been paid by the department till date.
