Non-utilization
of funds
In
his audit report in 2006 on "Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation" tabled
in the
Lok Sabha, the CAG noted with concern that beneficiaries were adversely
affected due to
non-utilization of Rs.17.31 crore. Poor utilization led to surrender of
funds.[i]
Tamil Nadu had
asked for Rs.4805.82
crore and was sanctioned Rs.2, 347.19 crore. Of the Rs.820.31 crore
released, only
Rs.597.67 crore was spent. Foreign aid worth Rs.2939.85 crore was
availed by the Centre.
Of this, only Rs.249.88 crore has been disbursed as of June 2006. The
balance Rs.2,689.97
crore is parked with the Centre. [ii]
An analysis of
the last three years'
income and expenditure sheet of the Prime Minister's Relief Fund shows
that Rs.1,460.96
crore was lying unused in 2005-2006. In the year 2004-2005, the fund
had Rs.952.8 crore.
Of this, Rs.111.6 crore was utilized, leaving a balance of Rs.1,286
crore.[iii]
Orissa
government in response to super cyclone utilized only 23% of the
funds from Central
government by November 2000. In Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack
districts, over 39,000 eligible
persons were waiting to get house building assistance till 2000.[iv]
The Minister
of Orrisa said that government had received a total of Rs.
828.15 crore from
National Funds for Calamity Relief (NFCR) and Rs. 38.10 crore from the
Prime
Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF). Out of Rs. 1,149.21 crore
spent by the
government till March 2001 on relief measures, utilization certificates
for only Rs. 49.83
crore were received by nodal departments, the report pointed out. He
admitted that some of
the major departments like water resources, rural development, works
and housing and urban
development had not yet fully utilized the money given to them. Of the
nearly 6.3 lakh
Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) houses sanctioned for the victims, only 1.79
lakh had been
completed so far, the minister said.
“Works worth
only Rs. 43 crore of the Rs. 230 crore sanctioned by the
World Bank in
the first phase of its loan had been utilized by March 15, 2002. Only 11 of the 100
proposed cyclone shelters had so far been completed”, he said.[v]
Rs. 10.49
crore for urgent repaires was not used from PM funds
postflood relief and
rehabilitation across the state of Maharashtra.[vi]
From the
above examples, it is evident that while on the one hand,
there are people who
remain without relief and rehabilitation for want of funds, the very
funds meant for them
have been lying idle in various government accounts.
Non-utilization
of funds either means that the state government did not
really require the
money it asked for in the first place or that the state government does
not have capacity
to utilize money or worse still the competence to administer the money.
The above examples
also show that states do tend to divert the money for their own pet
projects. Even in
Tsunami areas we are seeing several roads being constructed which are
mainly to benefit
tourism, while internal villages roads or landing sites, or road to
markets are lying
incomplete.
The argument
that money from the Calamity Relief Fund was diverted for
other development
projects as it was lying idle before the Tsunami is also a serious case
of mis-utlizations
of funds, as the funds looses the interest on the so-called “idle”
money.
Interest too is an integral part of the Relief Fund, and should be
rightly the right of
the victims of disaster.