Bhubaneswar: The CAG report said that the state government had overstated its revenue surplus and understated fiscal deficit during 2018-19 fiscal.
“The revenue surplus was overstated by Rs 1,494.89 crore and the fiscal deficit was understated by the same amount on account of net impact of excess contribution of the government towards New Pension System, non-credit of interest to deposits, non-credit of interest to State Disaster Response Fund, un-recouped balance of Odisha Contingency Fund.”
“Labour Welfare Cess was not transferred to Welfare Board and Land Revenue Cess was not transferred to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). Effectively, the revenue surplus and fiscal deficit of the state in 2018-19 were Rs 12,695 crore and Rs 11,652 crore respectively,” the report said.
The CAG report said that the total expenditure was good in many sectors except health sector. “Total expenditure with respect to GSDP in Odisha was better than the General Category states. Odisha fared favourably in its focus on development expenditure, social services expenditure, economic services expenditure, capital expenditure and education vis-à-vis general category states. The state, however, lagged behind General Category states in the area of healthcare expenditure,” it said.
The auditor also hinted at the delay in submission of utilisation certificates (UCs). “During the year 2018-19, the government released Rs 25,957.25 crore as grants-in-aid, for which UCs have not been received in respect of Rs 19,371.21crore (75 per cent). There was, therefore, no assurance that the expenditure of Rs 19,371.21 crore had actually been incurred for the purposes for which it was authorised,” the report said.
The CAG report also talked about delay in submission of outstanding detailed contingent bills.