Staff crunch in PRIs in the state impacted the devolution of functions, the audit highlighted
Representative photo: iStock. During the financial years 2007-08 to 2020-21, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in Bihar submitted utilisation certificates (UC) for only 42 per cent of the funds received from the State Panchayati Raj Department (PRD), an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found.
Though the Bihar Financial Rules mandate UCs be submitted within 18 months from the date of allotment of the grants, the submission of nearly 58 per cent of the funds is still pending.
Of grants worth Rs 42,940.69 crore sanctioned by PRD under various schemes during these financial years, UCs for only Rs 17,917.69 crore were submitted till March 2022, noted the audit report findings summarised as An Overview of the Functioning, Accountability Mechanism and Financial Reporting issues of PRIs. The report was uploaded on the CAG website on July 13, 2023.
The report included the issues noticed during the test audit for April 2020-March 2021, as well as those detected previously and not included in the former reports.
CAG also looked into the devolution of functions in the state. Nearly 20 departments of the Bihar government transferred their respective functions to PRIs in 2021. However, the notifications issued by these departments regarding the devolution of roles and responsibilities to be performed by the three tiers of PRIs were not clear, the chief secretary of Bihar had observed.
The chief secretary had also directed the departments in 2014 and 2019 to frame clear operational guidelines for the effective devolution of powers to PRIs. However, no progress has been made in this regard, the report noted.
PRIs were unable to levy and collect revenues from their own resources till August 2021, as the Bihar government did not specify the rates at which the tax/non-tax revenues were to be collected, the audit further observed. However, the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act (BPRA), 2006 and the State Finance Commissions report facilitate tax collection by the PRIs.
Staff crunch in PRIs in the state impacted the devolution of functions, the audit highlighted. Around 72 per cent of Panchayat Secretary posts — or 6,055 of the sanctioned strength of 8,419 — were vacant. Additionally, 308 Block Panchayati Raj Officers were working in 534 blocks of the state as of June 2022, it added.
“The accountability mechanism and financial reporting were deficient, as the Draft Bihar Local Government Ombudsman Rules, 2011, for the appointment of Lok Prahari (Ombudsman) for panchayats, was not finalised till February 2022,” the CAG report read.
Social audit of schemes in PRIs, other than the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), had not been conducted till March 2022, it added.
It also pointed out issues with the internal audit and internal control systems of PRIs. “The PRD instructed all District Magistrates to complete audit of the accounts of the PRIs and Gram Katchahry, up to the financial year 2018-19, by January, 2020. However, audit for the financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19 had not been completed, as of February, 2022,” stated the report. A Gram Katchahry exercises the judicial functions concerning the village.
The audit also pointed out cases from across Bihar. “Zila Parishad in Begusarai district failed to lease out newly constructed commercial buildings, shops, marriage halls and godowns, to generate income from own sources, led to loss of revenue, to the tune of Rs 2.4 crore,” it stated.
Two Panchayat Samitis and two Gram Panchayats failed to assess the actual physical status of works executed departmentally, under Finance Commission grants and MGNREGS, before paying the executing agents, resulting in irregular payment of Rs 10.03 lakh, it added.
“The accountability mechanism and status of financial reporting were not adequate,” the report concluded.
The state hasn’t constituted a Property Tax Board for optimising the collection of property tax. And the dependence of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) on government grants to meet their establishment expenditure was increasing, it noted.
As of April 2022, 2,982 posts had been sanctioned for ULBs; of these, only 526 posts had been filled up, and 2,456 posts were vacant, it added. “Municipal accounts committees, subject committees and wards committees, were not constituted in the municipalities of the state.”
Of the 142 ULBs in the state, the Directorate of Local Fund Audit audited the accounts of only 113 ULBs, during FYs 2016-17 to 2020-21, the report highlighted.
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