A report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) of India tabled in the Karnataka Assembly on Wednesday flagged some payments made to beneficiaries in the state during the first wave of the Covid pandemic. The CAG has found that Rs 59.32 crore was paid in excess, while 2,195 beneficiaries could not be verified.
The Karnataka Building and Other Construction Welfare Board provided details of around 16.46 lakh beneficiaries to whom aid to the tune of Rs 823.12 crore was provided using direct benefit transfer during the pandemic.
“An analysis of the data provided by the Board revealed that 2,27,231 transactions were conducted multiple times using the same bank account number,” the report noted. Further, 1,08,5689 beneficiaries received benefits multiple times through various payment methods. The CAG audit identified repetitive transactions resulting in excess payments amounting to Rs 59.32 crore.
The CAG report on the board said that due to incomplete data provided by the Government, the genuineness of payments amounting to Rs 1.1 crore could not be verified.
Irregularities that took place during the Covid pandemic are the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Justice Michael D’Cunha Commission, which has submitted two interim reports related to the procurement of various goods and services and the distribution of benefits during the pandemic.
The CAG report also highlighted the registration of ineligible people as construction workers.
The CAG scrutinised randomly selected 399 applicants for registration and renewal of beneficiaries available. Its report observed that “employment certificate furnished along with the applications did not contain the details of employment but were accepted by the Registering Officer”.
Story continues below this ad
Tailors, clerks, weavers, and people pursuing some other occupations were registered as construction workers and availed of the benefits, the report said.