From lack of ammunition to food served on trains unfit for consumption: Eight Key observations by CAG

The Comptroller Auditor General of India in its audit reports tabled in Parliament has flagged critical shortage of ammunition in the Indian Army to poor quality of food served on trains.

Here are the key observations made by the CAG.

1) Lack of ammunition, Navy's safety and delayed projects ail Defence infra

Critical deficiencies in ammunition, anti submarine warfare projects lagging behind time and lack of safety mechanism in the Navy are some of the glaring gaps in the country's defence readiness pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in different reports on Friday.

The report also said that ammunition depots with shortage of fire-fighting staff and equipment remained accident prone.

2) NRHM funds diverted in six states

In six states, funds amounting to over Rs 36 crore, meant for National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), were diverted to other schemes, the Comptroller Auditor General of India's report reveals.

The states in which fund diversion was reported were Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Tripura. In 27 states, the unspent amount has increased from Rs 7,375 crore to Rs 9,509 crore in 2015-16, the report states.

3) Nearly 60% of flood-forecasting stations non-operational

Out of 4,862 large dams in the country, only 349, a mere seven per cent, had emergency disaster action plans in place, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India's performance audit report on flood control and management schemes of Water Resources Ministry revealed. The country's top auditor also found out during the inspection that there were inordinate delays in flood management works, non-operational flood forecasting stations, and inflated costs.

4) Student overstaying cost FTII loss of Rs 11.83 cr:

Coming down heavily on The Film Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on Tuesday stated that students overstaying at the institute has resulted in the institute incurring a revenue loss of Rs 11.83 crore.

5) INS Sindurakshak explosion was due to leakage of oxygen from torpedo

Indian Navy's frontline submarine INS Sindurakshak had exploded in 2013 in Mumbai due to leakage of oxygen from a torpedo, the Comptroller and Auditor General said in a report, revealing the reasons causing the major accident.

The CAG cited the report of a high-level inquiry by the Navy into the explosion on board the submarine on Aug 14, 2013 following which it had sunk. The accident is considered one of the biggest in recent times for the Navy in which 17 personnel were killed.

6) Food served by Indian Railways' catering services unfit for consumption

The Indian Railways did not take adequate steps to put in place infrastructural and other arrangements for improvement in parcel services, which was estimated to grow from Rs 1,644 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 8,000 crore in 2019-2020, the CAG said.

7) Six telecom majors understated revenues over a period of 5 years

Six private telecom operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea Cellular, understated revenues by over Rs 61,000 crore over a period of five years, resulting in short payment of nearly Rs 7,700 crore in statutory dues to the government, the Comptroller and auditor general (CAG) said on Friday. Another Rs 4,531.62 crore was due from the six operators as interest on the short paid revenue share.

8) Writing off Kingfisher dues to BIAL 'untenable'

The Comptroller and Auditor General termed a request from the Bangalore airport operator to the government to waive more than Rs 9 crore owed by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines as "untenable" and an "undue favour".

The CAG also censured the government for failing to ensure that the airport operator recovered over Rs 17 crore from various airlines.