Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India are auditing the government’s major plan, water life mission (JJM) with the objective of providing tap water connections to all rural homes, The Indian Express Have you learnt.
According to sources, JJM Audit Exercise is in an advanced stage and the report is expected soon. The process started about one and a half years ago after including the subject of CAG in its audit plan. This financial year is covering the implementation of JJM in states from 2019-20 to 2023-24.
The CAG is doing a horizontal audit of the mission through its territory offices led by Principal Accountant Generals (PAGS) or Accountant General (AGS) in all states.
Fieldwork in most states is over, while in some states, exercise is in the report-writing phase, a source said. The source said that the report of two states has already reached the CAG headquarters.
Once the report is finalized, they will be presented in the Legislative Assembly of the concerned states, the source said.
The audit is conducted at the state level and not at the national level as the state governments are at the forefront of implementing JJM. All aspects of JJM implementation, including the audit, are covered under the audit, including the financial performance. A source said that the reasons behind the cost increase would also be investigated.
Why audit after 5 years?
According to sources, the CAG usually chooses a plan for audit after costing 70–80%. JJM started in 2019-20. In the early years, the expenditure was low. Therefore, the CAG selected it for the audit after completion of the first phase in 2023-24, the source said.
Along with JJM, the CAG is also performing a horizontal audit of MGNREGS in states and these reports are also expected to be finalized soon. The last time CAG had an audit of NREGS which was in 2013.
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This is JJM’s first major audit since its launch in 2019. The CAG audited the National Rural Drinking Water Program (NRDWP), a report in 2018. It covered the period from 2012 to 2017. In 2019, the Center subscribed to NRDWP to launch JJM. Since then, this is the first audit practice organized by CAG.
The Center has deployed more than 100 teams of Central Nodal Officers (CNO) for “ground inspection” of JJM schemes across the country. The move followed a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary on 8 May to review the JJM schemes.
Since the launch of the mission in 2019, about 6.4 lakh water supply schemes with a total estimated cost of Rs 8.29 lakh crore – has been approved by the states – more than double the original outlay of the scheme (Rs 2.08 lakh crore, Rs 2.08 lakh crore, Rs 1.52 lakh crore).
To meet the additional requirement of funds, the Ministry of Water Power had approached the Finance Committee spent under the chairmanship of the Expenditure Secretary, in which additional central funds were approved by more than Rs 2.79 lakh crore and Rs 2.08 lakh crore. However, EFC recommended only Rs 1.51 lakh crore as a central share, which is 46% less than Rs 2.79 lakh crore sought by the Ministry of JL Power, as reported by the Indian Express on 21 April 2023.
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On 21 May, the Indian Express reported that an investigation into the data uploaded by the states and UTS on the Water Life Mission Dashboard revealed that a significant change in the tender guidelines three years ago removed the check at the expenditure, and the cost increased. As a result, the total cost for 14,586 schemes was Rs 16,839 crore, which increased by 14.58% from their estimated cost.
Sources said that the CAG has started a horizontal audit of many other central schemes like the Rashtriya Pathri Shikha Abhiyan, Kalyan and other construction workers, Green India Mission and Smart City Mission. The JJM audit will be similar to that.
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