Landing another blow on the government over the controversies surrounding issuance of double Drawal Authorities (DAs) by the Finance department to various departments for the same project, having the same amount and at the same place, the Nagaland Public Rights Awareness and Action Forum (NPRAAF) has come out with another startling revelation alleging that the Finance department had issued double DAs for construction of 17 Boys/Girls hostel for Scheduled Tribe at various locations across the state, thereby doubling the expenditure from Rs. 10.03 to Rs. 20.5 crore
It may be recalled that ACAUT and other NGOs had also made similar allegations, backed with data in recent months.
NPRAAF information & publicity cell revealed that on July 11, 2016, through Drawal Authority (DA) No 10 of 2016-17 under demand No 27– Planning Machinery, the state Finance department (Budget & Monitoring Cell) had released Rs 10.03 crore for construction of the 17 hostels.
However, NPRAAF expressed surprise that the Finance department on May 29, 2017 through DA No. 5 of 2017-18 under demand no. 27– Planning Machinery, had again released similar amount of Rs 10.03 crore for construction of the same hostels and at the same locations. (See table)
NPRAAF pointed out that since the same amount were drawn twice for the same 17 hostels (with the same break-up) on different occasions and under different DAs and numbers, the total amount for the project doubled to Rs 20.5 crore.
Further, NPRAAF pointed out that nothing was mentioned in the DA as under which scheme/programme the Government of India had sanctioned the amount. The state government merely mentioned that “the expenditure is to be classified under CSS against the sanctioned budget of the current financial year,” it said.
NPRAAF said these were amply clear that such double drawals were absolutely doubtful and again confirmed the non-transparent functioning of the government.
NPRAAF went on to say that its doubt was further attested due to non-existence of many hostels indicated in the details of hostels and break up of funds.
It pointed out that one such case was the hostel at “Arabil, Dimapur”, a place which was never heard of though places such as Eralibill, Khushiabill etc. exist in Dimapur. “Such concocted nomenclatures only give rise to strong suspicion about corrupt activities in the state government,” NPRAAF stated.
The forum said it was aware of the Finance department’s clarification to ACAUT regarding double drawals for construction of a bridge over River Tizit on Mon-Tizit road– that the drawal authority was issued for second time since the amount was not drawn for the first drawal authority.
However, NPRAAF said that if similar clarification was to be issued by the Finance department on this matter, then it would leave ample room for public to conclude that there could be many more double drawals for various projects, which simply cannot be blindly believed.
Further, the forum pointed out that the government had released another amount of Rs 7.19 crore on June 16, 2016 through DA No. 06 of 2016-17 under demand No. 27 – Planning Machinery for construction of four new hostels for 400 ST girls– Botsa (Rs. 170.17 lakh), Chumukedima (Rs. 142.41 lakh), Longsa (Rs. 172.79 lakh) and Noksen (Rs 233.21 lakh). It said that the DA was issued in favour of Kohima (N) Treasury.
NPRAAF questioned the department for failing to specify as to which district Longsa fell under, since there were two villages in Nagaland with the same name -in Wokha and Mokokchung district.
In this case too, NPRAAF said nothing was indicated in the DA as under which scheme/programme the Government of India sanctioned the amount, except merely mentioning that “the expenditure is to be classified under CSS against the sanctioned budget of the current financial year.”
Since Rs 27.25 crore (Rs 20.05 crore + Rs 7.19 crore) was released for construction of hostels in Nagaland during 2016-17 and 2017-18, NPRAAF demanded clarification from the concerned departments along with complete details including names of contractors/firms, time taken for completion of hostels and whether any additional fund was released etc.
It also asked the concerned department to furnish copies of the Government of India sanction for construction of the hostels.
Meanwhile, NPRAAF has questioned whether the Planning department was qualified to take up construction works such as hostels. “Is construction the Planning department’s subject matter beyond choking out Plans for the State? Is there no implementing department for such works/projects?” NPRAAF asked.
Alleging that the government has had questionable history of issuing double drawals and drawals against non-existent projects, the forum called upon all concerned students’ unions, NGOs and citizens to verify the physical existence of the mentioned hostels in their respective jurisdiction and fight for their rights.
Questions allocation of CM Corpus Fund
NPRAAF has also questioned the manner in which the Chief Minister’s Corpus Fund (CMCF) was released without bringing out the list of beneficiaries.
NPRAAF said that a total of Rs. 2.46 crore (Rs. 2.40 crore on March 14, 2017 and Rs. 5.98 lakh on March 18, 2017) was released for payment of financial assistance to various individuals/entrepreneurs under CMCF.
The DA, it said was issued in favour of Kohima (North) Treasury vide NO.BUD/8-27/2016-17/TN/125 through DA No 57 (A) of 2016-17 under demand no. 27 – Planning Machinery and vide NO.BUD/8-27/2016-17/QC/311 through DA No 72 of 2016-17 under demand No. 27 – Planning Machinery.
As per norms, the forum said that the Finance department was required to give out the list of beneficiaries while issuing such DAs. Since no such lists were shown in the two DAs, NPRAAF opined that it was “a strong enough reason to describe it as dubious releases only to be embezzled among few people unless the department comes out with crystal clear and unblemished proof and evidence.”
As thousands of Naga entrepreneurs were struggling for self-employment, owing to lack of resources, the forum maintained that the state government was expected to deliver goods to the public and those in need of government assistance in a transparent manner.
Therefore, NPRAAF has asked the concerned department to disclose the list of all beneficiaries with complete details in public domain within a reasonable time-frame, failing which the forum said it would approach appropriate authorities in the larger interest of public.