wEIT oIy tOF THE ACCOUNTANT GENERAL (A&E), JHARKHAND UItHo, TA-10/Dept. of WCDSs/ 22 Dated: 9508-2022 ThÁ Director, Social Welfare Department of Women, Child Development and Social Security Dtectorate of Social Welfare), 2nd floor, Engineers Hostel Dhurwa, Ranchi-834004. Sub:Certification of Eligible expenditure under Eligible Expenditure program (EEP) of POSHAN Abhiyan for the year 2021-22 reg. Sir, With reference to your letter No. 1224/S. W./2022, dated 23-06-2022 on the subject cited above it is to state that the expenditure of Q IIl and Q IV is required to be verified as there are differences, of figures as per our record the comparative statement of Expenditure under Eligible Expenditure Program (EEP) of POSHAN Abhiyan for the year 2021 -22. Enc:- AS stated above. Yours faithfully, AD(S Sr. Dy. Accountant General (A/c's) Nele Nedloud COnparative Statement of Eligiblo expenditure under Eligible Expenditure program (EEP)for POSHAN Abhiyan for the year 2021-22. Budget Heads Expendíture for Expenditure for F.Y. 2021 -22 Differences F.Y. 2021-22 reported by Department of (INR in Lakhs) reported by O/o Women, Child Developmentand the Pr. A.G. Social Security(Directorate of Jharkhand. Social Welfare), Dhurwa, Ranchi 2235-02-102-51-01-01 0,00 0.00 Gen/oSP} CentralShare 2235-02-796-51-01-01 0.00 0.00 Q! (ST/TSP) Central share Q.00 2235-02-102-51l-01-01 0 00 Gen/0SP) State share 2235-02-796-51-01-01 0.00 0.00 (ST/TSP) State share 2235-02-102-51-01-01 115.227 115.227 Gen/0SP)Central Share 2235-02-796-51-01-01 256.837 256.837 (ST/TSP) Central share Q! 2235-02-102-51-01-01 410.002 410.002 Gen/osP) State share 2235-02-796-51-01-01 953.91) 953.910 (ST/TSP) State share 2235-02-102-51-01-01 69.213 70.365 -1.152 Gen/oSP) CentralShare 2235-02-796-51-01-01 249.152 252.880 -3.728 (ST/TSP) Central share 2235-02-102-51-01-01 244.722 245.978 -1.256 Gen/0sP) State share 2235-02-796-5l-01-01 725.010 747.437 -22.427 (ST/TSP) State share 2235-02-102-51-01-01 291.106 289.955 1.151 Gen/0SP) Central Share 2235-02-796-51-01-01 118.474 114.746 3.728 (5T/ISP) Central share 2235-02-102-51-01-01 1078.588 1077.331 1.257 Gen/0SP) Stateshare 2235-02-796-51-01-01 932.723 910.197 22.526 (51/1SP) State sare Sr. Accoyats Officer o/o the Pr.Accountant General (A&f) Rantv Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India Audit of the Finance Accounts of the Government of Jharkhand Opinion The Finance Accounts of the Government of Jharkhand for the year ended 31 March 2022 presents the financial position along with accounts of the receipts and disbursements of the Government for the year involving transactions from and / or to the Consolidated Fund, the Contingency Fund and the Public Account of the State. The compilation of Finance Accounts comprises two volumes; Volume-I contains the consolidated position of the state of finances and explanatory ʻNotes to Finance Accountsʼ including a summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Volume -II depicts the accounts in detail. The Appropriation Accounts of the Government for the year for Grants and Charged Appropriations, which represent the budget comparison, are presented separately. On the basis of the information and explanations that my officers required and have obtained and as a result of test audit of the accounts, in my opinion, the Finance Accounts read with the explanatory ‘Notes to Finance Accounts’ present fairly the financial position and the receipts and disbursements of the Government of Jharkhand for the year 2021-22. Observations arising from audit of these accounts as well as audit conducted during the year or earlier years are contained in my Financial, Compliance and Performance Audit Reports on the Government of Jharkhand being presented separately for the year ended 31 March 2022. Basis for Opinion The conduct of audit is in accordance with the CAG’s Auditing Standards. These Standards require that we plan and perform audits to obtain reasonable assurance that the accounts are free from material misstatement. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The audit evidence that we have obtained provides a basis for my opinion. Responsibilities for Preparation of the Initial and Subsidiary Accounts The State Government is responsible for obtaining authorisation of budget from the State Legislature. The State Government and those responsible for execution of budget such as treasuries, offices and departments of the Government of Jharkhand are responsible for preparation and correctness of the initial and subsidiary accounts as well as for ensuring the regularity of transactions in accordance with the applicable laws, standards, rules and regulations. Also, they are responsible for rendering the initial and subsidiary accounts and information related thereto to the Office of the Principal Accountant General (Accounts and Entitlements) of Jharkhand for compilation and preparation of the Finance Accounts. iv Responsibilities for Compilation of Annual Accounts The Office of the Principal Accountant General (Accounts and Entitlements) of Jharkhand functioning under my control is responsible for compilation and preparation of Annual Accounts of the State Government. This is in accordance with the requirements of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971. The Annual Accounts have been compiled from the vouchers, challans and initial and subsidiary accounts as received from the treasuries, offices and departments of the Government of Jharkhand and the statements received from the Reserve Bank of India. Statements (8, 9, 10(ii), 17(b)(i), 17(c)(i) and 19), explanatory notes (7) of Statement No. 5 and explanatory note (III) of Statement No. 14 and Appendices (V, VIII(i), VIII(ii), IX & X) in this compilation have been prepared directly from the information received from the Government of Jharkhand and the Union Government who are responsible for such information. Responsibilities for the Audit of the Annual Accounts The audit of the Annual Accounts is conducted through the Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit) in accordance with the requirements of Articles 149 and 151 of the Constitution of India and the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 for expressing an opinion on these Accounts based on the results of such audit. The Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit) and the Office of the Principal Accountant General (Accounts and Entitlements) are independent organisations with distinct cadres, separate reporting lines and management structure. Emphasis of matter I want to draw attention to: 1) Fourteen departments of the State had drawn `2,668.28 crore from Government accounts, against 246 Abstract Contingent (AC) bills, during the financial year 2021- 22, but did not submit 78 Detailed Contingent (DC) bills, amounting to `463.17 crore, before the close of the financial year. There is, therefore, no assurance that the amount of `463.17 crore has actually been spent, during the financial year, for the purpose for which it was sanctioned/authorised by the Legislature. As such, there may be a possible overstatement of expenditure in the year 2021-22. In addition to this, 18,128 AC bills, amounting to ` 5,631.27 crore, drawn up to 2020-21, were also outstanding, as on 31 March 2022. Advances drawn and not accounted for increase the possibility of wastage/misappropriation/malfeasance etc. [Paragraph 3 (v) of NTFA] v 2) During the financial year 2021-22, 5,075 Utilisation Certificates (UCs), pertaining to an amount of ` 15,806.55 crore, which had become due, were not submitted by the bodies and authorities of the State, against the Grants-in-aid provided by twenty three departments. There is, therefore, no assurance that the amount of ` 15,806.55 crore had actually been utilised, during the financial year, for the purpose for which it was sanctioned/authorised by the Legislature. In addition to this, 33,989 UCs, involving ` 87,652.59 crore, due for submission upto 2020-21, were also outstanding, as on 31 March 2022. Thus, a total of 39,064 UCs, involving ` 1,03,459.14 crore, were due for submission, as of March 2022. High pendency of UCs is fraught with the risk of fraud and misappropriation of funds. [Paragraph 3 (vi) of NTFA] 3) An amount of ` 467.05 crore, being unspent balances of Grants-in-aid related to previous years, has been deposited by the State Government, under Receipt Heads of Accounts by operating Minor Head ‘913-recovery of unspent balance of Grants-in-aid’, during the financial year 2021-22, instead of being set off as reduction of expenditure under Expenditure Heads of Accounts in contravention of accounting rules. The unspent balances could not be bifurcated between Centrally Sponsored Schemes and State Schemes, due to non-availability of details in the digital data maintained by the State Government. [Statement 14 of Finance Accounts] My opinion on the Finance Accounts is not modified due to Emphasis of Matter Section. Date : 13 Dec 2022 (GIRISH CHANDRA MURMU) Place : New Delhi Comptroller and Auditor General of India vi