CAG report: Budget violations in J&K, savings worth Rs 34,000 crore not surrendered

Jammu: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has flagged financial management violations in Jammu and Kashmir, revealing that savings amounting to over Rs 34,000 crore were not surrendered by various departments during 2023-24, in violation of prescribed budgetary norms.
The CAG has recommended a series of corrective measures to improve financial management in J&K, stressing the need for realistic budgeting and stronger expenditure controls.
As per the Jammu and Kashmir Budget Manual, departments are required to surrender anticipated savings to the Finance Department.
“It was noticed that savings exceeding Rs 1 crore in each case under 36 Grants and two Appropriations amounting to Rs 34,917.96 crore (32.99 per cent) were not surrendered at all,” the CAG report on finances for the year ended March 31, 2024, said.
The audit further noted that against a total grant appropriation of Rs 1,04,178.32 crore, the actual expenditure stood at Rs 69,260.36 crore across 36 grants, resulting in substantial savings of Rs 34,917.96 crore.
The CAG said that similarly, a total provision for expenditure during 2023-24 was Rs 1,57,212.90 crore.
“The actual gross expenditure during the year was Rs 1,26,054.97 crore (80.18 per cent). This resulted in savings of Rs 31,157.93 crore during 2023-24 which were not surrendered,” the report said.
The CAG flagged the issue, noting that overall expenditure remained about 20 per cent lower than the total Grants and Appropriations.
The report further highlighted that in 45 cases under 28 Grants, savings exceeding Rs 100 crore were observed without surrender, while 37 cases showed persistent high savings over three consecutive years from 2021-22 to 2023-24.
The CAG said that more than half of the allocated funds remained unspent in ten key departments. These include Tribal Affairs (Rs 455.44 crore, 80 per cent), Public Health Engineering (Rs 5,357.21 crore, 70 per cent), Industries and Commerce (Rs 739.98 crore, 68 per cent), Planning (Rs 618.30 crore, 67 per cent), Irrigation and Flood Control (Rs 1,303.86 crore, 64 per cent), Horticulture (Rs 428.94 crore, 58 per cent), Agriculture (Rs 1,762.02 crore, 54 per cent), Culture (Rs 183.18 crore, 68 per cent), Fisheries (Rs 133 crore, 50 per cent) and Information Department (Rs 126.19 crore, 57 per cent).
Highlighting serious procedural lapses, the CAG report pointed out that an amount of Rs 5,214.45 crore was incurred under 35 schemes and sub-heads in nine grants without budgetary provisions during 2023-24.
On the other hand, excess expenditure of Rs 19,610.17 crore was incurred between October 2019 and March 2024 without proper regularisation, including Rs 3,760.84 crore during 2023-24 alone, it added.
The CAG warned that such unregulated excesses undermine financial discipline and legislative control.