Jammu, April 4 – The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has raised concerns about financial management in Jammu and Kashmir, revealing that over ₹34,000 crore in savings were not surrendered by various departments during 2023-24, in violation of budgetary norms.
The CAG has recommended corrective measures to improve financial management in J&K, emphasizing the need for realistic budgeting and stronger expenditure controls.
According to the Jammu and Kashmir Budget Manual, departments are required to surrender anticipated savings to the Finance Department.
"It was observed that savings exceeding ₹1 crore in each of the 36 grants and two appropriations amounting to ₹34,917.96 crore (32.99 per cent) were not surrendered," the CAG report for the year ended March 31, 2024, stated.
The audit further noted that against a total grant appropriation of ₹1,04,178.32 crore, the actual expenditure stood at ₹69,260.36 crore across the 36 grants, resulting in substantial savings of ₹34,917.96 crore.
The CAG stated that a total provision for expenditure during 2023-24 was ₹1,57,212.90 crore.
"The actual gross expenditure during the year was ₹1,26,054.97 crore (80.18 per cent). This resulted in savings of ₹31,157.93 crore during 2023-24 which were not surrendered," the report said.
The CAG highlighted the issue, noting that overall expenditure remained about 20 per cent lower than the total Grants and Appropriations.
The report further highlighted that in 45 cases under 28 Grants, savings exceeding ₹100 crore were observed without surrender, while 37 cases showed persistent high savings over three consecutive years from 2021-22 to 2023-24.
The CAG said that more than half of the allocated funds remained unspent in ten key departments. These include Tribal Affairs (₹455.44 crore, 80 per cent), Public Health Engineering (₹5,357.21 crore, 70 per cent), Industries and Commerce (₹739.98 crore, 68 per cent), Planning (₹618.30 crore, 67 per cent), Irrigation and Flood Control (₹1,303.86 crore, 64 per cent), Horticulture (₹428.94 crore, 58 per cent), Agriculture (₹1,762.02 crore, 54 per cent), Culture (₹183.18 crore, 68 per cent), Fisheries (₹133 crore, 50 per cent) and Information Department (₹126.19 crore, 57 per cent).
The CAG report pointed out that an amount of ₹5,214.45 crore was incurred under 35 schemes and sub-heads in nine grants without budgetary provisions during 2023-24.
On the other hand, excess expenditure of ₹19,610.17 crore was incurred between October 2019 and March 2024 without proper regularisation, including ₹3,760.84 crore during 2023-24 alone, it added.
The CAG warned that such unregulated excesses undermine financial discipline and legislative control.
It further said that excess expenditure of ₹3,760.84 crore was incurred under various sections, including Grant No. 08 (Finance Department) and Grant No. 36 (Co-operative Department), which “required regularisation”.
The report also pointed to poor planning in supplementary budgeting.
“Supplementary provisions aggregating to ₹588.69 crore proved unnecessary as the expenditure did not come up to the level of the original provisions,” it said.
Conversely, “supplementary provisions of ₹5,348.98 crore were not adequate and led to excess expenditure of ₹3,471.06 crore.”
The CAG noted that this indicated failure to utilise funds meant for developmental activities and asset creation. The CAG underscored widespread savings across departments, stating, “There were savings of ₹10 crore and above in 36 Grants, including 30 Grants wherein savings of ₹100 crore and above were noticed.”
It added that “budgetary allocations were based on unrealistic proposals,” particularly in the Capital section, where 26 Grants recorded savings exceeding ₹100 crore.
In a major concern, the report said, “The entire budget provision of ₹10,597.90 crore under 31 Grants involving 160 schemes remained unutilised during the year,” resulting in denial of benefits to the public.
The audit also flagged a “rush of expenditure” at the end of the financial year.
“Expenditure exceeding 50 per cent of the total was incurred in March 2024 under 11 major heads across 10 grants,” it noted.
The Finance department, in its response, attributed the savings to lower-than-expected receipts under centrally sponsored schemes and reduced capital expenditure, stating that corrective measures would be taken.
Recommending corrective measures, the audit body urged the government to ensure realistic budgeting, strengthen financial monitoring, regularise excess expenditure, and improve accountability of controlling officers to prevent recurrence of such lapses.
“The government should make realistic budgetary provisions and ensure efficient control mechanisms to curtail savings and excess expenditure,” the CAG said.