CAG red flags incomplete work on 397 projects worth Rs 1,518 crore in J&K

Nearly 400 public welfare projects in Jammu and Kashmir remained incomplete despite incurring an expenditure of over Rs 1000 crore over the past decade till the end of financial year 202122 the Comptroller and Auditor General CAG has saidAs many as 378 of these projects were taken up by different government departments between 2019 and 2022 the CAG said in its latest audit report on the Union Territory Finances for the year ended March 31 2022397 capital works having original estimated cost of Rs 151866 crore taken up by four departments viz Irrigation and Flood Control Department Jammu 61 works and Jal Shakti PHE Department Kashmir 216 work Jal Shakti PHE Department Jammu 119 and Mechanical Engineering Department Kashmir one targeted to be completed during the period 201213 to 201415 and 201718 to 202122 were incomplete at the end of the year 202122rdquo the CAG saidIt said the cumulative expenditure of Rs 109552 crore incurred on these incomplete works got blockedGiving the breakup the report said one project was sanctioned in 201213 two in 201314 nine in 201415 two in 201718 five in 201819 85 in 201920 203 in 202021 and 90 in 202122 at a cumulative cost of Rs 151866 croreThe irrigation and flood control department Jammu made the highest expenditure of Rs 61422 crore followed by Rs 24695 crore by the Jal Shakti PHE department Jammu Rs 23365 crore by the Jal Shakti PHE department Kashmir and Rs 70 lakh by the mechanical engineering department KashmirThe CAG also pulled up the government for poor recovery of loans in the Union territoryAlso readMumbai Police seize properties in Dahisar Gujarat worth over 256 crore in 2400 kgs drugs seizure caseldquoDuring the year 202122 the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir disbursed loans and advances of Rs 7377 crore and recovered loans and advances amounting to Rs 103 crore Out of total loans disbursed during 202122 loans amounting to Rs 4000 crore was disbursed to JampK Road Transport Corporation Limited JKRTC which already had outstanding loans of Rs 43923 crore ending 31 March 2021 Rs 38373 crore received from erstwhile State and Rs 5550 crore from UT of JampKrdquo the report saidIt said as per last audited accounts for the year 201819 JKRTC booked losses of Rs 11762 croreldquoRecoveries of loans and advances are not forthcoming from lossmaking public sector undertakings No assessment about potential recoverability of these loans has been made in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management FRBM statementsrdquo the CAG saidIt said the government had a total outstanding loans and advances of Rs 16825 crore ending 31 March 2022ldquoIn addition there were loans and advances of Rs 174044 crore disbursed by the Government of erstwhile State which were outstanding ending 30 October 2019 and were yet to be divided between Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakhrdquo the report saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever