CAG Report: 18 Meghalaya Departments Fail to Submit 777 Utilisation Certificates

Shillong: Concerns have been raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) regarding financial reporting in the Meghalaya government after 18 state departments failed to submit 777 Utilisation Certificates (UCs) for grants-in-aid.

According to the latest reports by CAG, the national auditor said that the certificates that are pending are to the tune of a whopping Rs 5,428.54 crore up to the end of the financial year 2024-2025. Out of these, 369 UCs up to the tune of Rs 2,489.19 crore, are due by March 2025.

The CAG report stated that "Eighteen departments did not submit 777 numbers of Utilisation Certificates (UCs) amounting to Rs 5,428.54 crore before closing of the financial year 2024-25. Out of these 777 numbers of UCs outstanding, 369 numbers amounting to Rs 2,489.19 crore were due for submission by March 2024, and the balance 408 numbers amounting to Rs 2,939.35 crore were due for submission by March 2025."

It may be mentioned that Utilisation Certificates (UCs) are of extreme significance during auditing and are required to make sure that the funds released under various projects and schemes have been utilised by the respective departments transparently for the purposes approved.

The CAG cautioned about the delays, saying, "To the extent of non-submission of UCs, there is a risk that the amount shown in finance accounts might not have reached the beneficiaries/been spent for the purposes for which it has been granted/sanctioned."

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