UCs of over Rs 1K crore pending against 15 departments for 12 years in Odisha
The office of the SRC has requested the defaulting departments to submit the UCs as early as possible.
Published: 07th June 2023 08:58 AM | Last Updated: 07th June 2023 09:20 AM | A+A A-
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik
BHUBANESWAR: The state government has taken strong exception to the non-submission of utilisation certificates (UCs) amounting to Rs 1,215.71 crore by 15 departments for over 12 years.
Sources said that the pending UCs are for funds allocated by the state government from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) from 2010-11 to 2021-22. With pending UCs of Rs 433.42 crore, the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department is the biggest culprit. The department received an allocation of Rs 2,044.78 crore during the period and submitted UCs for Rs 1,611.35 crore.
The Health and Family Welfare department is the second major defaulter and has not submitted UCs for Rs 336.44 crore despite repeated reminders from the office of the Principal Accountant General. The department was allocated Rs 1,615.51 crore during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has submitted UCs for Rs 1,275 crore, official sources said.
Similarly, the Energy department which has received the third highest allocation of Rs 1,165.19 crore for the restoration of transmission and distribution networks after successive tropical cyclones has not submitted UCs for Rs 197.95 crore. Cyclone Fani had hit the coastal districts of the state in May, 2019.
The State Odisha Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) has reportedly not submitted UCs for Rs 156.60 crore out of Rs 255.25 crore it had received from SDRF. The other defaulting departments include Home with pending UCs for Rs 23.80 crore, Rural Development (Rs 22.40 crore), and Water Resources (Rs 21.79 crore).
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The Women and Child Development department has not submitted the UCs for Rs 22.5 lakh it was allocated. The office of the SRC has requested the defaulting departments to submit the UCs as early as possible.
