Morung Express New
Dimapur | August 7
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has expressed ‘grave concern’ over recurring ‘cases of excess/fraudulent drawal’ in Nagaland and said that the ‘malpractices persist’ despite being highlighted in past Audits.
Making the observation in it is latest ‘Compliance Audit’ of the Directorate of Treasuries & Accounts, Finance Department, Nagaland, the CAG informed that such ‘malpractices’ involving Rs 4.51 crore in were seen in the audit.
Detailed analysis of the report highlighted that 42 Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) from various Departments resorted to such practices in the current audit. (See Table-1)
According to CAG, these were “instances of excess/fraudulent drawal by inflating net total of pay bills, double drawal of pay & allowances including arrears, excess drawal by inflating basic pay in pay bills and arrear bills and fraudulent/inadmissible drawal of pay & allowances including arrears.”
Underscoring the seriousness of the matter, the CAG also listed the “issue of fraudulent/ excess drawal by the DDOs by manipulating pay and allowances bills” in previous audits.
Accordingly, a total of Rs 20.22 crore was drawn using such method in the last five years, data annexed by the CAG informed. (See Table II) 
“It is a matter of grave concern that these malpractices persist despite being highlighted in past Audit Reports and Government has not taken any corrective action to strengthen the controls to obviate such misappropriation of Government money by DDOs and Treasury Officers.”
In another observation regarding the department, the CAG said that “blatant and widespread failure of the DDOs and Treasury Officers in complying with the provisions under Central Treasury Rules and Receipt and Payment Rules indicates possible collusion for fraudulent drawals.
Overall, the CAG observed that failure of DDOs and Treasury Officers to exercise prescribed checks resulted in fraudulent/double/excess drawal of Rs 5.16 crore out of which Rs 4.94 crore was yet to be deposited or recovered.
CAG’s Recommendations
To check the cases of excess or fraudulent drawals in Nagaland, the CAG also give a set of recommendations including immediate recovery of amount misappropriated and initiation of strict actions against those involved in the malpractices.
“The amount misappropriated should be recovered immediately from the concerned employees/ DDOs/ TOs,” the CAG stated.
“Initiate strict and exemplary disciplinary action against the erring officers responsible for the fraudulent drawals, so as to deter such occurrences,” it added.
It further recommended the Finance Department to “complete the ongoing Treasury Computerisation in a time bound manner and the budget and expenditure against each DDO should be strictly monitored by Treasury Officers and concerned Head of Department (HoD).”
Personal Information Management System (PIMS), which among others, allocates unique employee code may be made fully functional with Aadhaar link, it said, adding that, “Sub-allocation of funds to DDOs especially under Salary Head should be linked with PFMS data.”
“Rigorous internal audit systems need to be put in place in at least large departments to prevent the frequency of the fraudulent/ excess withdrawal,” the CAG added.
The CAG Report of the ‘General, Economic and Revenue Sectors’ for the year ended 31 March 2019 (Government of Nagaland, Report No. 2 of 2020)’ was tabled in the recent 8th Session of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly on August 5.
