CAG report blames Bengal Govt. for fiscal crisis

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA, AUG.3. Modest revenue growth and galloping expenditure have brought West Bengal ``to the brink of fiscal collapse'', according to a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report. For the year that ended on March 2000, the report says the State Government tried to avoid financial breakdown by continuously drawing Ways and Means Advances (231 days) and overdraft (105 days) and when these were no longer permissible, Rs. 1567.93 crores were borrowed in the name of infrastructure development.

``That these developments had their origin in long- term fiscal decline was apparent and that nothing was done to address its causes is also clear,'' the CAG report observes. This year's report highlights ``parking of unutilised funds'' in the treasuries under the guise of ``deposit account''.

According to the report, this is merely a ``notional'' deposit in the Public Account section of the Government accounts and does not represent real money to be spent on the various programmes or projects of the Government is apparent from the continuing overdraft. In fact, these monies had been diverted for other non- productive or revenue expenditure is apparent from the fact that the State Government had to resort to Ways and Means Advances on as many as 336 days in the year and an amount of Rs. 1326.30 crores remained unpaid on this account at the end of 1999-2000.

``Seen in this background, the retention of Rs. 1101.93 crores (voted funds shown as expended in the Appropriation Accounts but held in the Deposit Account with the treasuries) can only be construed as a means of circumventing legislative scrutiny merely to offset the adverse Ways and Means /overdraft position of the State Government,'' the report says.

The report further observes that even the funds (Rs. 105.37 crores) sanctioned by the Department of Backward Classes Welfare for the SCs and STs were similarly drawn (shown as spent), but transferred to deposit head, circumventing legislative control and depicting an erroneous picture in the Appropriation Accounts.

During 1999-2000, the West Bengal Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation Limited (WBIDFC) raised Rs. 1567.93 crores. Of these funds, Rs. 1101.93 crores were parked in the Deposit Account maintained by Pay and Accounts Officer, Calcutta. ``Thus 70 per cent remained unutilised in the non- interest bearing Deposit Account, thereby, merely helping to ease the Ways and Means and Overdraft position of the State Government.''

Focussing its attention on the Statutory Corporations, the report says the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBESB) suffered a loss of Rs. 266 crores on sale of power to the private power utility, CESC Limited, run by RPG Enterprises, at rates below cost, though the CESC's average tariff for supply to its consumers stood higher than that of the WBESB by four to 47 per cent. ``Thus, the WBSEB was subsidising the operations of a private concern.''

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Milestones to becoming knowledge superpower
           identified
Next     : Concern over denial of visas to NBA's supporters