BENGALURU: The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) report on Public Sector Undertakings that was tabled on Thursday, pointed out that the Endowment department had released grants to 2,836 institutions between 2017-18 and 2021-22, for which there were no proposals. Out of 2,836 institutions, 2,264 are private temples, while 572 are government temples. The grant outlay for government temples was Rs 44.48 crore, while private temples were granted Rs 187.81 crore, without proposals.
On the contrary, during the same period, there were 134 proposals from institutions seeking grants, of which only 20 religious institutions got approval. “The practice of releasing grants without any proposals may lead to a situation where grants could be released without verification of institution or institutional requirements, and without control over expenditure, while needy eligible institutions may be deprived of funds,’’ it noted.
The CAG also noted that as per the government’s prescribed guidelines, the maximum limit for government-owned temples is Rs 10 lakh, for private temples Rs 25 lakh and for mutts, a maximum of Rs 50 lakh. But as per the audit observation, up to Rs 3 crore was released and the excess grants amounted to Rs 39.79 crore. It also objected to 79 instances aggregating Rs 5.13 crore, where the same institutions were sanctioned grants from multiple schemes, including MLA funds, SCP/TSP, Rudrabhumi and other schemes.
The audit report also said that during inspection, they noticed there were disparities between estimates and actual work executed. The monitoring of schemes and work execution was not satisfactory. The Tasdik and Varshasana grants, which are statutory in nature, also lay undisbursed with tahsildars. It also said the department did not make any concerted effort to conduct surveys and ensure eviction of encroachments on properties.
Irregular allotment of BDA sites
The CAG also pointed out that irregular allotment of sites under the incentive scheme in BDA resulted in excess allocation of 12,000 sqft of developed land, and undue benefits to landowners to the tune of Rs 10.54 crore.
BDA’s decision to advance the effective date of implementation of the amended incentive scheme rules without authority of law, along with allocation of sites resulted in excess allocation, the CAG report noted.
