New Delhi Mar 28 PTI Refuting TDPs charge of misappropriation of about Rs 48000 crore in Andhra Pradesh during the 2020-21 fiscal state Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy on Monday said the government did not spent this amount but only made book adjustments because of a faulty financial software introduced by the previous regime Speaking to reporters here Reddy said the current YSRCP government could not make entries of 600-odd bills for an amount of about Rs 48000 crore due to programming errors in the Comprehensive Finance Management System CFMS The CFMS was introduced in 2018 when the TDP was in power to ensure accountability on all payments and track the flow of funds in government departments There were errors in the CFMS as the previous government introduced it hurriedly in 2018 with a private person as CFO Since there were no options in the software to enter certain heads we made only book adjustments There was no fraud and no cash transaction took place Reddy said Asked why his government took such a long time to identify the defects in the CFMS he said Earlier the CFMS was managed by a private person Our government appointed an IAS officer and took time to figure out the loopholes in the system When you are driving on a new road you wont know where the speed breakers would be As soon as the faults were identified the government began to rectify them and more than 80 per cent of errors have been fixed now Reddy said Asked if the Comptroller and Auditor General CAG was informed about the faulty software the finance minister said the government gave clarifications to all the objections raised by it and there may have been some delay by the time the CAG report on accounts was finalised The state finance secretary has written an explanatory letter to the CAG in this regard he added The CAG report on the accounts was presented to the legislature on March 25 Reddy said when the TDP was in power it had also made a book adjustment transaction towards the end of the financial year 2018-19 Last week the TDP had asked the Centre to invoke Article 360 of the Constitution and clamp financial emergency in Andhra Pradesh to protect it from the alleged gross mismanagement by the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy regime PTI LUX LUX ANB ANB

Jammu Jan 20 PTI The Comptroller and Auditor General CAG of India has pulled up the Jammu and Kashmir home department for failing to utilise over Rs 500 crore funds sanctioned under the Prime Ministers Development Package PMDP to procure high-end security system to maintain law and order in the union territory The CAG in its report has taken a serious note of the home departments single-vendor purchases without ascertaining the reasonability of rates and avoidable expenditures in purchase of the high-end security system Under the PMDP the central government had sanctioned over Rs 500 crore for procurement of high-end security system to maintain law and order in Jammu and Kashmir in 2016-2017 of which only 52 percent of funds were utilised by 2019 the report said During the period from 2016 to 2019 the government of Jammu and Kashmir released Rs 50186 crore out of which an expenditure of Rs 26196 crore 52 per cent was incurred by the home department the CAG said The report further said that the percentage of expenditure vis-a-vis funds available during the period ranged between 50 and 85 percent respectively The unspent balances increased from Rs 277 crore as of April 2017 to Rs 7978 crore at the close of March 2019 Further during the year 2019-20 an amount of Rs 119 crore was sanctioned by the GoI under the project and an expenditure of Rs 2977 crore had been incurred by the department leaving a balance of Rs 8923 crore unutilised as of 31 March 2020 it said The CAG said that during the year 2020-21 up to August 2020 an amount of Rs 2515 crore was released by the Union government against which no expenditure had been incurred till August 2020 The government audit body pointed out that under the project 56 items and works were to be procured and installed and out of which the procurement of 33 items and works 59 per cent was completed by the department as of August 2020 It further lambasted the home department for its failure to take up the integrated command centers and its linked components for execution as of August 31 2020 Similarly the procurement of 413 CCTVs for police stations was under tendering process even in August 2020 the report said The CAG said 669 vehicles of various types bulletproof bunkers Rakshak vehicles Gypsy anti-riot vehicles hydraulic crane JCB tractor were sanctioned and only 547 had been procured of which 499 vehicles had been delivered as of August 2020 It pointed out that purchases worth Rs 10027 crore which included vehicles body protectors bulletproof patkas anti-riot vehicles farm track tractors and backhoe loaders were made by the police headquarters PHQ either on repeat order basis or from original manufacturers without ascertaining reasonability of rates by way of inviting tenders The GAG also pointed out that audit scrutiny of records revealed that the department had made purchases from particular firms and single sources which resulted in an avoidable expenditure of Rs 920 crore The department purchased seven MBP vehicles at higher rates from Ashok Leyland Limited thereby incurring an extra expenditure it said Despite lower rates offered by Tata Motors Limited for MBP vehicles vehicles were procured from Ashok Leyland Defense Systems Limited at higher rates it added Although the department had taken the plea that MBP vehicles are a proprietary item the process of placing supply orders with both the firms was self-contradictory the CAG said Thus considering the nature of urgency in such purchases the department may adopt a streamlined procedure consistent with the objectives of the high-end security it noted PTI AB AQS AQS