A report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on the functioning of Mumbai's civic body highlighted a lack of transparency and planning, as well as careless use of funds, and highlighted non-sharing of COVID-19 management expenditure records.
๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ, ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐: ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, reacting to the report, said they (his party) 'welcome the CAG report'.
"People know about our work. They elected us in last 25 years," Thackeray said, defending the party's administration in Civic body over the last two decades.
" We have exposed many scams of Mumbai Municipal Corporation, and y'day also a scam came to light. All these scams are happening under the CM. Maharashtra govt should conduct a CAG inquiry in Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, and Pune municipalities," Thackeray said.
In an attack on CM Shinde, Thackeray said the 'CM' stands for 'corrupt man'.
๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ ๐
The CAG report, which Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tabled in the Maharashtra Assembly on Saturday, examined expenditure of โน12,023.88 crore made by nine departments of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation between November 28, 2019 and October 31, 2022.
Several works were awarded without tendering or selecting proper contractors, including one case of an influent pumping station in which malafide intentions cannot be ruled out, according to the report.
The CAG report also stated that despite repeated requests to the civic body by the Office of the Accountant General (Audit)-I, Maharashtra, records relating to the expenditure for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic were not produced.
The failure to produce these records, in addition to infringing on constitutional responsibilities devolved on the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, deprived the BMC of critical audit inputs that would have been beneficial for any course correction and systemic improvements, according to the report.
It claimed that the BMC refused to allow an investigation into the expenditure of โน3538.73 crore due to the Pandemic Act.
Due to the lack of these records, no confirmation can be made in the audit on the propriety, efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of BMC's expenditure for COVID-19 management at this time, according to the report.
๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ
Speaking in the House, Fadnavis claimed that the investigation was limited to only โน12,000 crore and that more irregularities would have been discovered if the entire functioning of the civic body had been examined.
