Patna: Finance Minister Samrat Chaudhary tabled the report of the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) of India for 2021-22 and 2022-23 as high drama unfolded inside the Bihar assembly on Thursday, July 25 with the opposition protesting from the well of the lower house over the issue of corruption and police action on the protest march of the youth wing of Congress.
The report spotted several irregularities including dues of taxes, loss of grants, undervaluation of lands, negligence by the Transport Department and non-recovery of penalties by the authorities. Here are the major observations:
- As per the report, Bihar's fiscal deficit that stood at Rs 13806.76 crore in 2018-19 corresponding to 2.62 per cent of the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product), increased to Rs 44823.30 crore in 2022-23, amounting to 5.97 per cent of the GSDP. The report also stated that 41,755 utility proofs worth Rs 87947.8 crore were not received till March 31, 2023.
- The Auditor General stated in the report that AC bills of 27392 machines worth Rs 7489.05 crore have been pending as of March 31, 2023 out of which bills of 26574 such machines worth Rs 6450.17 crore relate to the period between 2021-22. Revenue worth Rs 55840.32 crore was to be collected by March 2022, but only Rs 38838.88 has been managed.
- As per the audit, there has been a loss of revenue worth Rs 25,001 crore across 1,059 cases. The concerned departments have admitted to committing errors of Rs 28.80 crore in 336 cases.
- The auditor general noted that there was a failure to detect undervaluation of land in eight documents executed between October 2020 to June 2022, resulting in under-recovery of stamp duty and registration fees worth Rs 1.25 crore.
- Out of 44 schemes approved by Patna Smart City Limited under the Smart City Mission, only 29 schemes were worked upon. CAG has also stated in its report that Bihar State Power Transmission Company Limited has suffered a loss of grant of Rs 97.54 crore due to non-compliance with the guidelines of the Power System Development Fund.
- As per the report, due to negligence in the Transport Department, there has been less recovery of revenue. The District Transport Officer had ensured renewal of fitness certificates of 20,189 vehicles between January 2017 and March 2022, as a result of which Rs 1.5 crore could not be recovered.
- Despite the availability of information about non-payment of motor vehicle tax by their owners, penalty worth Rs 22.6 crore was not recovered by the authorities.
- Till March 2022, the dues of taxes on sales trade, goods and passengers, electricity, vehicles, land revenue, state excise stamp duty, registration fees and revenue on mining and industries stood at Rs 4022.59 crore, out of which Rs 1300.42 crore was pending for more than 5 years, the report stated.
Ruckus in Assembly: On the penultimate day of the session, many legislators wore black scarves in protest against the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's disrespectful behaviour towards female MLAs on Wednesday, as well as the lathi-charge on Congress workers marching towards the Vidhan Sabha to showcase alleged failures of the NDA.
“Governance has collapsed in Bihar. There is rampant crime and loot, and we will continue to protest. The way Youth Congress workers were beaten up by police is unacceptable. They were protesting against price rise, corruption and growing crime, but the Nitish government believes in crushing democratic protest,” Congress MLA Pratima Das said.
Speaker Nand Kishor Yadav continued the Question Hour in spite of the mayhem, warning rowdy members not to trample on the decorum of the parliament. Leader of the CPI(ML) Liberation parliamentary party Mahboob Alam mockingly took on the position of "Speaker" in the parallel assembly while seated in a chair.
"These are staff members of the Vidhan Sabha. If anyone gets hurt due to your actions, I will have to take strict action," said the Speaker while reprimanding the opposition members during their sit-in. Opposition MLAs staged a walkout following the end of Question Hour, claiming their opinions were not heard at all.
A number of adjournment motions from members of opposing parties were read out by the Speaker, who mockingly remarked, "It is strange that those who moved these motions did not even bother to remain present." The Zero Hour was conducted without the opposition until the House was adjourned for lunch.
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