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DECCAN HERALD
Wednesday, September 4, 2002
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CAG pulls up Goa govt for financial bungling
DH News Service
PANAJI, Sept 3
The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) of India has pulled up the Goa government
for the "overall deterioration" in its financial condition, and pointed out that the
state's interest payment has gone up to nearly 50 per cent of net capital borrowings.
Its fiscal deficit has shown a whopping increase of 297 per cent in 2000-2001.
"The application of a large share of the borrowing on revenue expenditure has made the
state's finance vulnerable to source of funding outside its control. Mounting revenue
deficit, including heavy interest, has left little for investment," the report
highlighted.
Some of the report's most caustic criticism is reserved for the monolith of
bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption, the state's Public Works Department. The
department entered into an agreement in September 1998 with Reliance Salgaocar Power
Company for supply of 4,000 cubic metres of water a day to the company's power plant.
Though the PWD should have collected an amount of Rs 6.28 crore for 24.2 lakh cubic
metres of water from August 1999 to March 2001, the actual water charges it levied and
collected was Rs 2.17 crore.
"The failure of the department to specify in the agreement the minimum quantity of
water to be billed has resulted in a loss of revenue of Rs 4.11 crore, besides
unauthorised benefit to the industrial concern to that extent," the audit report
commented.
Similarly, the government lost Rs 19.58 lakh by undercharging Ms Palm Hotels (India)
Limited, also a Salgaocar group concern, for water and sewerage for their Mira Mar
resort. The billing from May 1996 and March 2001 gave the consumer "undue benefit",
said CAG.
The report also raises a stink over the Agriculture Department's decision to pay Rs
21.06 lakh for 643 metric tonnes of semi-organic manure, when it knew the manure was
sub-standard.
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