LUCKNOW: An audit by Comptroller and Auditor Common (CAG) tabled in UP Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday has uncovered extreme planning and monetary mismanagement within the implementation of two main nationwide rural electrification schemes– Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) in Uttar Pradesh, resulting in losses price 1000’s of crores.The schemes, launched by the central authorities in 2014 and 2017 respectively, aimed to strengthen rural electrical energy infrastructure and obtain common family electrification.From the outset, planning was flawed. The audit discovered that detailed mission experiences (DPRs) for the SAUBHAGYA scheme, ready by the Uttar Pradesh Energy Company Restricted (UPPCL), utterly ignored a key mandate: offering off-grid photo voltaic connections for distant areas, leaving a important part of this system unaddressed.As per audit report, underneath SAUBHAGYA, dicoms declared saturation by December 2018 and claimed 64.67 lakh connections, whereas solely 33.23 lakh had truly been launched by that date, with one other 28.42 lakh connections accomplished subsequently. That led to Rs 1,094.14 crore of grants foregone.The monetary mismanagement was much more staggering. Beneath DDUGJY, the discoms failed to fulfill prescribed milestones like well timed mission completion (delays starting from 29 to 49 months) and decreasing Mixture Technical & Industrial (AT&C) losses. Consequently, loans of Rs 1,816.94 crore couldn’t be transformed, costing Rs 908.47 crore in extra grants.Collectively, the 2 schemes noticed a complete lack of Rs 2,002.61 crore in grants.A core goal of the DDUGJY scheme, separating agriculture and non-agriculture feeders for higher energy administration, remained largely unachieved. The audit discovered that in seven pattern districts, 71.22% of agricultural shoppers had been nonetheless linked to non-agriculture feeders, negating meant advantages.The report additional highlights a number of areas of pointless or extreme spending. Discoms incurred avoidable expenditure of Rs 402.44 crore by unnecessarily making use of cement concrete grouting to over 24 lakh single concrete poles, opposite to scheme specs which required solely refilling with boulders.In DPR preparation, MVVNL and DVVNL overpaid contractors by Rs 3.33 crore as a consequence of inflated price calculations.Additional monetary irregularities included incorrect tax claims. PVVNL erroneously claimed Items and Providers Tax (GST) on supplies, inflating mission prices by Rs 3.63 crore. Resulting from delayed claims, the corporate additionally did not safe a reimbursement of Rs 4.21 crore in state taxes from the Uttar Pradesh authorities.The audit additionally highlighted irresponsible monetary practices. PuVVNL took an extra mortgage of Rs 66 crore from the Rural Electrification Company (REC), resulting in an avoidable curiosity burden of Rs 3.94 crore. Individually, PVVNL paid extra curiosity of Rs 7.19 crore to REC by not verifying the proper relevant rate of interest.Most strikingly, the CAG recognized Rs 26.65 crore in extra funds to Turnkey Contractors (TKCs) as a consequence of duplicate or irregular claims, together with funds for connections already supplied underneath different schemes.The CAG wrote that, “audit paints an image of poor planning, weak monetary oversight, and non-compliance with tips, in the end undermining the effectivity and aims of the central authorities’s rural electrification drive in Uttar Pradesh.”
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