Audit Report 2023-24

1. Audit Overview & Project Execution
  • Audit Period: The audit was conducted from October 23, 2024, to October 30, 2024, covering financial transactions of FY 2023-24.
  • Low Project Implementation: Out of 186 approved projects with an outlay of ₹20.16 crore, only 106 projects were implemented, spending just ₹5.93 crore (29.4% utilization rate).
  • Public Works Inefficiency: Out of 57 planned public works (Maranth works), only 13 were executed, leading to a significant lapse of developmental funds.
2. Major Financial Irregularities
  • Excess Payment for Drinking Water Distribution: An advance of ₹7,99,990 was granted to a contractor without proper adjustment during final bill processing. The audit has ordered the recovery of this amount with 18% interest.
  • Accounting Discrepancies: The Cash Flow Statement was denied certification due to mismatched figures between net cash increase and net cash generated. Monthly bank reconciliation statements were missing for several bank accounts.
  • Omissions & Faulty Bookkeeping: Fixed deposits worth ₹1,62,501 (for medical endowments) were omitted from the annual accounts. Revenue expenses (e.g., medicine procurement from HOMCO) were erroneously booked as advances.
3. Revenue & Tax Collection Lapses
  • Property Tax Mismatch: There were significant discrepancies in collection data between the "Sanchaya" tax software and the "ILGMS" finance module.
  • Uncollected Taxes:
    • Property tax was not collected from un-aided educational institutions, violating the 2023 legal amendment that revoked their exemption.
    • Mobile tower tax for Indus Ltd was under-calculated by only assessing the BTS floor area and excluding the tower base area.
    • Profession taxes were not collected from prominent local auditoriums, and commercial property tax was skipped for 'V Sports Academy' (sports turf).
  • Illegal Exemptions & CRZ Violations: Certain buildings (convents, nursing school offices) were unlawfully exempted from property tax. Furthermore, an illegal auditorium and homestay structure were found operating without building numbers in a strict CRZ III B zone.
4. Notable Institutional Observations
  • Exemplary Health Grant Utilization: The panchayat successfully and fully utilized ₹35,48,045 across 15 health schemes at the Family Health Centre, making its Health Grant utilization exemplary.
  • Commendable Jagratha Samiti: The performance of the local Vigilance Committee (Jagratha Samiti) was highly praised for its active intervention in women/child safety, processing POCSO cases, and arranging skill training for marginalized groups.
  • Delayed Infrastructure: PWD/ANERT failed to complete installation works like a lab inverter at the FHC and a solar system at the Ayurvedic hospital despite receiving full advance payments.
  • Incomplete Digitization: The digitization and mapping project of panchayat buildings remained incomplete past its 6-month deadline, with excess advance funds cleared inappropriately.