Now Reading: CAG asks Uttar Pradesh to revisit budgeting methods for realistic estimates
-
01
CAG asks Uttar Pradesh to revisit budgeting methods for realistic estimates
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has taken strong exception to the Uttar Pradesh government’s manual preparation of the state budget and asked the finance department to revisit budgeting methods to make budget estimates more realistic in the state. The CAG said budget reappropriations were also being processed through physical files and were
The Story in Brief
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) criticised the Uttar Pradesh government’s manual preparation of the state budget and asked the finance department to revisit budgeting methods to make estimates more realistic. The CAG set out these findings in its Compliance Audit – Revenue and Civil report for the period ending March 2023, which was tabled in the Vidhan Sabha. It found that a vote‑on‑account in 2022‑23 led to allotments against specified heads for which the main budget later made no provision, resulting in expenditure of ₹219.57 crore without budgetary sanction that remains to be regularised. The audit said the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) lacks surrender functionality, so surrenders and reappropriations are processed offline and entered into IFMS after approval. This created delays, non‑utilisation of budget amounts and irregular reappropriations. The report cited reappropriations of ₹5,120.88 crore to new services between 2018 and 2024, 151 irregular reappropriations totalling ₹10,186.62 crore, and 1,885 instances where expenditure exceeded allotments amounting to ₹13,938.27 crore.
The Indian Opinion
The CAG report presents detailed findings about process weaknesses and apparent control failures; its tone is naturally critical because it assesses compliance with rules. Readers should avoid interpreting the audit language as an accusation of individual wrongdoing without further evidence. The state’s brief reply says steps have been taken and that IFMS functioning has improved, but the article does not provide independent verification of those fixes. Given the scale of amounts flagged, it is reasonable for citizens and legislators to seek follow‑up details and documentation of system upgrades and corrections of specific reappropriations before drawing broader conclusions about overall financial management.
Original article: Revisit budgeting methods to make estimates more realistic in Uttar Pradesh: CAG (Hindustan Times)
This story was summarised and commented on by AI from the source linked above.
