CAG opens lid of Hills relief misuse

Jayanta Gupta,TNN | Sep 6, 2014, KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee may have announced a fresh list of development plans for Darjeeling but audit findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) released recently have brought to light several lacunae in the distribution of relief to those affected in the earthquake that devastated the district in 2011. The utilization of nearly 62% of funds allotted from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund couldn't be ascertained either, the report states.

On September 18, 2011, an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale claimed eight lives and damaged nearly 7,787 houses. The CAG audit has revealed that an order for 6,755.7665 metric tonnes of rice was placed with the West Bengal State Consumers' Co-operative Federation Ltd (CONFED) for distribution among those affected at the rate of Rs 2,047.14 a quintal. Of this, only 5,352.679 metric tonnes was actually delivered. The 1,403.0875 metric tonnes or 21% of the total volume left undelivered was worth Rs 2.87 crore. This was meant for six sub-division, block or municipality officers. According to the report, Darjeeling and Mirik municipalities and Phansidewa and Matigara BDOs didn't receive any rice at all while the remaining two (SDO, Siliguri and BDO, Kalimpong-II) didn't receive the full quantity required.

"Thus, intended benefits did not reach affected people. Further, distribution of 99% of rice was not supported by muster rolls as other than BDO, Kalimpong-I, who had maintained it partially, muster rolls were not available in any of the test checked block development or sub-divisional offices," the report states.

Some anomalies regarding the release of House Building (HB) grants were also detected during the audit. Of the Rs 34.99 crore earmarked for distribution among those whose houses were damaged in the earthquake, Darjeeling district received Rs 27.09 crore between October 2011 and October 2012. Of this, Rs 21.24 crore was received by the district magistrate and Rs 5.85 crore by the Gokhaland Territorial Authority (GTA).

"Though the district magistrate released Rs 21.24 crore in time, the GTA released funds only in January, 2013. Thus, HB grants of Rs 5.85 crore meant for victims of the earthquake of September, 2011, reached the block level after a lapse of 16 months from the occurrence of disaster. Test check at the block level further revealed that in the Kalimpong-I block, of the Rs 1.80 crore received, only Rs 14.65 lakh (barely 8%) was distributed among the victims till July, 2013," the report further states.

After the earthquake, Darjeeling district received Rs 1 crore from the Chief Ministers' Relief Fund for relief and rehabilitation work. Though the funds were sub-allotted to three institutions between November, 2011 and July, 2012, utilization certificates were submitted for only Rs 37.50 lakh (38%) by two of them. The CAG has not been able to ascertain the utilization of 62% of the funds from the CM's relief fund.