Failure to submit their annual accounts for audit has yet again landed autonomous bodies and department-run undertakings in trouble with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
As many as 23 autonomous bodies have run up arrears ranging from one to seven years in submitting their accounts, as per the latest audit report of the CAG on State finances (for the year ended 2021) tabled in the State Assembly.
Noting that the matter had been brought to the notice of the State government earlier too, the CAG has recommended the Finance department to devise a system for compiling and submitting the annual of accounts of autonomous bodies and government-run undertakings so that their financial position can be assessed properly.
Autonomous bodies coming under the audit purview as per the CAG’s Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service Act (DPC Act) are required to submit their annual accounts for audit before June 30 every year.
Major defaulters include the National and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights and the District Legal Services Authorities of Kollam, Wayanad and Kasaragod. Inordinate delay in submitting the accounts result in delayed legislative scrutiny of the functioning of these bodies which have received loans and grants-in-aid from the government, according to the report.
''Audit has reported the issue of non-submission of accounts of the defaulting bodies over the years, but no perceivable improvement was noticed as the number of defaulters and the period of delay in submission of accounts has shown an increasing trend. In the absence of finalisation, timely submission of annual accounts and their audit, proper utilisation of grants and loans disbursed to these Bodies/ Authorities and their accounting cannot be ascertained. Audit is, therefore, unable to certify the accounts of these Bodies/Authorities as required under CAG’s DPC Act, 1971,'' the report noted.
This is not the first time that the CAG has taken note of the delay. In the previous audit report - for the year ended 2020 submitted in November last year - the CAG had observed a similar situation and urged the government to take corrective measures.
Over the years, the Finance Department repeatedly warned public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies to clear the arrears in filing their accounts. Earlier this month, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Rajesh Kumar Singh had again warned them that lapses in this regard would lead to denial of further access to government grants.
