Patna, 26 February (ABN). The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report was presented in the Assembly on Thursday. According to the report, the total revenue of the Government of Bihar for the year 2022-23 was Rs 1,72,688.02 crore, out of which Rs 48,152.63 crore came from state revenue, which is Rs 9,313.75 crore (23.98 percent) more than the previous year. The share of revenue received from the central government was Rs 1,24,535.39 crore (72.12 percent of total receipts).

The CAG report presented today stated that there was a revenue arrear of Rs 4,844 crore as of 31 March 2023, out of which Rs 1,430.32 crore had been pending for five years. Meanwhile, irregularities have been found in crop subsidy. The CAG has revealed irregularities in the Transport Department regarding ATS. Fitness certificates of vehicles were issued without following the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), resulting in a loss of crores of rupees to the government.

The CAG report has revealed irregularities in the Agricultural Input Subsidy Scheme. In 2019, a subsidy of Rs 21.48 crore was paid to 10 districts that were not declared flood-affected by the Disaster Management Department. Additionally, Rs 4.03 crore was paid to applicants in 14 other districts, although they were not included in the identified affected areas. During the Rabi and Kharif seasons of 2019 and 2020, the Agriculture Department distributed a subsidy of Rs 151.92 crore, covering an area of 1.34 lakh hectares more than the area marked for crop damage.

Applicants were paid more than Rs 3.74 crore due to non-compliance with the SDERF standards for relief rates. Non-compliance with business rules, incorrect mapping, and proposed provisions in the database were found during the processing and approval of subsidy applications. As a result, there were additional, less, or irregular payments of Rs 56.14 crore in 15.53 lakh cases. Furthermore, unacceptable subsidy payments of Rs 159.28 crore were made in 681,617 cases during 2019-22, despite the crop damage area being less than 33 percent.

The arrear revenue in the form of tax on goods and passengers was Rs 248.58 crore. Rs 183.39 lakh is pending in vehicle tax. The Transport Department did not provide details of arrears pending for more than five years. The department also did not disclose the status of arrears pending. Rs 302.47 lakh is due in land revenue. They also did not provide details of arrears pending for more than five years. Rs 215.61 lakh is pending in stamp duty and registration fee. The Registration Department also did not provide details of arrears pending for more than five years.

The Bihar State Educational Infrastructure Development Corporation provided unfair benefits of Rs 94.25 lakh to contractors, resulting in a loss to the company. A major fraud was also committed in the fitness certificates of transport vehicles, resulting in a loss of Rs 22.7 lakh to the government.

The CAG report stated that the standard operating procedure was not followed for vehicle fitness testing at automated testing centers. Certificates were issued without using the automated system and without testing all prescribed parameters. Fitness certificates were issued to 42,672 out of 47,223 vehicles, i.e., more than 90 percent of vehicles, where provisions were violated. Appointment requests for obtaining fitness certificates were not made online. Additionally, 66,345 vehicles were inspected, and 35,921 vehicles failed to obtain fitness certificates, which is a risk to road and public safety.