Счетная палата выявила нарушения в использовании средств фонда развития шахтерских регионов в Чхаттисгархе

RAIPUR: Nearly half of the villages directly affected by mining remained outside the ambit of district mineral foundation-funded development works in 11 sampled Chhattisgarh districts, even as the trusts spent ₹4,536.58 crore, the Comptroller and Auditor General has found. Of 1,734 directly affected villages in the sampled districts, 754 — or 44% — were not covered under works financed through District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Trusts. The expenditure amounted to 81% of the available funds, but was incurred without master plans, vision documents or annual plans aimed at ensuring sustainable livelihoods for mining-affected communities, the audit said. The findings are part of the CAG’s performance audit of the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana and DMF trusts, which was tabled in the Chhattisgarh assembly on July 14. PMKKKY was launched in 2015 to finance development and welfare programmes for people and areas affected by mining operations through contributions collected by DMF trusts. The audit also flagged unfruitful expenditure of ₹41.80 crore on incomplete projects and assets that remained unused. These included an art and culture centre, biogas-based power plants, and poultry and mushroom production centres. It attributed the losses to inadequate planning, monitoring and due diligence while selecting and executing projects. Another ₹30.73 crore of DMF money was spent on construction, renovation, beautification and procurement for govt offices, even though these activities fell outside the priority areas prescribed under PMKKKY. The CAG found that mining-affected areas were identified five to 65 months after the trusts were established. During this period, works worth ₹1,060.70 crore were allocated without first identifying the affected areas. Lists of directly affected villages were issued through office orders of district collectors but were not formally notified as required under DMF rules. In the test-checked districts, DMF funds were used without preparation of budgets and annual plans. The report said ₹1.68 crore was transferred to the state-level DMF cell in violation of a July 2021 Union govt order, while ₹10.82 crore remained outstanding with the cell as of March 2024. Monitoring and transparency mechanisms were also found deficient. Meetings of the state-level monitoring and review committees were held less frequently than mandated, while websites of 12 sampled districts did not disclose or regularly update key information, including trust composition, affected villages, contributions received, project status, annual plans, budgets and meeting minutes. The audit found a complete shortage of sanctioned skilled manpower in Bemetara and Mahasamund. Vacancies exceeded 50% in Balod, Bilaspur, Raigarh and Rajnandgaon, with key posts such as project coordinators, assistant project coordinators, accountants and assistants remaining unfilled.