Patna, Bihar, India, July 25— The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has released a harsh assessment on the finances of the Bihar government. It shows that the administration failed to submit utilization certificates (UCs) for projects worth Rs 70,877 crore. This big mistake has made people quite worried about how public money might be misused.
Today, the CAG report, which is about the State Finances Audit for 2023–24, was officially presented in the state assembly.
A lot of unpaid UCs and DC bills
The CAG report says that “Despite the requirement of submitting Utilisation Certificates (UCs) within a stipulated time period, 49,649 outstanding UCs of Rs 70,877.61 crore were not received by the Accountant General (Accounts & Entitlements), Bihar, as on 31 March 2024.” Without UCs, there is no guarantee that the money given out was spent for the right reasons.
The paper goes on to give a strong warning: “Moreover, high pendency of UCs is fraught with the risk of embezzlement, misappropriation, and diversion of funds.”
The CAG also said that “Despite the requirement of submitting Detailed Contingent (DC) Bills against the advance money withdrawn through Abstract Contingent (AC) Bills, DC Bills against 22,130 AC bills of Rs 9,205.76 crore were pending for submission as on 31 March 2024.” This added to the financial problems. The audit said, “Not submitting DC bills on time breaks financial discipline and raises the risk of public money being misused.”
Effect on Financial Responsibility and Discipline
The CAG report stressed how important it is to follow financial standards by saying, “Following the rules and codes of conduct is meant to make sure that accounting and financial reporting are controlled and accountable.” Not following the rules and making mistakes makes accounting and financial reporting worse.
In conclusion, the report clearly explained how these mistakes have hurt financial oversight: “Failure to submit UCs against grants on time; failure to submit DC bills against AC bills; and failure to provide details of spending from SNAs have all had a negative effect on the quality of accounts.” The results show that there is a serious lack of financial discipline and accountability in how the Bihar government spends money.