GANGTOK, July 30: Several Government Departments and Corporations in Sikkim have come under the scanner of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report this time. Releasing the CAG report here today, the Accountant General, Sikkim Dinesh Bhagata said it is now up to the State Government to conduct detailed investigations against the errant departments and decide on the course of action against them. This is for the second time that the report was released through a press conference held at the Lekha Pariksha Bhawan this evening after being tabled in the Assembly a few hours earlier. The report also had six audit paragraphs and four performance reviews apart from comments on the Finance Accounts and Appropriation Accounts. This time, there is also a separate chapter on Integrated Audit of the Police Department.The State Rural Management and Development Department for non-availing the excise duty concession on pipes has led to loss of Rs 2.50 crores. Similarly, the report reveals that the lackadaisical approach of Human Resource Development Department to operationalize the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) in the State remained unachieved even after a lapse of 18 years. Several other departments have been brought under scanner for misappropriate loss, undue favour, excess expenditure, wasteful expenditure, loss of revenue and others. The key fiscal parameters of the State have shown that the finances of the State have improved in 2007-08 in relation to the previous year. But state finances were heavily dependent on central transfers which accounted for 53.22 per cent of its revenue receipts and helped the government maintain revenue surplus during the entire period.Sikkim’s own resources mobilized through tax and non-tax revenues were much lower than the normative projections. During the year there was a fiscal deficit of Rs 64.25 crore, a decrease of Rs 32.61 crores from Rs 96.86 crore during 2006-07.The report also mentions the failure of the State Police Department to benefit from modernization schemes like CIPA and POLNET.
