The Comptroller and Auditor General has found prima facie evidence of tampering, overwriting and alteration of records in the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme of 2008.
In its report, tabled in Parliament here on Tuesday, the Government auditor pulled up the Department of Financial Services for “deficient” monitoring of the Rs 52,000-crore scheme, announced in the 2008 Budget ahead of the 2009 general elections, that the UPA Government has used to showcase its pro-farmer image.
‘Eye-opener’
The Bharatiya Janata Party, terming the report an eye opener, demanded a CBI enquiry. The CAG’s team audited the records of 90,576 farmers in 715 branches of various banks in 25 States. The sample included 80,299 accounts of farmers who got the benefits and 9,334 accounts of those who were denied the benefits for various reasons.
The CAG report said 13.46 per cent of the rejected accounts were actually eligible for benefits under the scheme. The auditor said these applicants were not considered by the banks while preparing the list of eligible farmers. In 8.5 per cent of the cases audited by the CAG, the beneficiaries were not eligible either for debt waiver or for debt relief.
“A proportion of such claims, amounting to Rs 20.50 crore, was on account of claims being admitted for ineligible purposes or claims pertaining to periods not eligible for scheme benefits,” the report said.
In some cases, the CAG said, farmers were not extended the benefits according to entitlements. “In 3,262 cases, undue benefit totalling Rs 13.35 crore was extended,” the report added.
The CAG also said a private scheduled bank received reimbursement worth Rs 164.60 crore meant for microfinance institutions.
About the role of the Department of Financial Services, the CAG report said: “The DFS was completely dependant upon the nodal agencies for monitoring the compliance of its instructions issued from time to time in implementation of the scheme.”
Demand for inquiry
The report will now go to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament for discussions. Some 50 such reports are before the panel.
Saying that the ruling Congress has become synonymous with corruption, the BJP said just with a small sampling, the CAG has found that some 13 per cent of the eligible farmers had been left out of the scheme.
The party demanded a CBI enquiry to unearth the real extent of the “scam.” It urged the Centre to ensure assistance for all eligible farmers before the end of this financial year.