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CAG finds lapses in Rs 52,000 cr farm debt waiver scheme
-PTI

The BJP alleged there was a "big scam" worth Rs 10,000 crore in the implementation of the scheme and demanded strict action against those responsible

Expressing serious concern over the implementation of the Rs 52,000-crore farm debt waiver scheme, government auditor Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Tuesday said in several cases ineligible farmers were given benefit while deserving ones were left out.

The CAG has also found instances of tampering of records and pulled up the Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the Finance Ministry for deficient monitoring of the multi-crore scheme.

“Overall, the Performance Audit revealed that in 22.32 per cent of cases test checked, there were lapses/errors which raised serious concern about the implementation of the scheme,” said the CAG report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

The report deals with Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme (ADWDRS) 2008 under which 3.69 crore small and marginal farmers and 60 lakh other farmers were given debt relief to the extent of Rs 52,516 crore. The CAG report said in several cases “farmers who had taken loan for non-agricultural purposes or whose loans did not meet eligibility conditions, were given benefits under the scheme.” It said several farmers who were eligible for the benefit under the scheme were not considered for loan waiver by the lending institutions.

Besides other observations, the report said the Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) were given benefit under the scheme in violation of the debt waiver guidelines. The banks, it said, also claimed undue benefits like penal interest, legal charges, miscellaneous charges from the government. Under the scheme, banks were supposed to bear these charges themselves. Referring to the issue of tampering of records, CAG suggested DFS should review such cases and take “stringent action” against erring officials and banks.

After extending benefit under the scheme, the banks were required to issue a certificate and obtain an acknowledgement from the farmer for the same. However, the CAG report found that in several cases “the lending institutions had not obtained acknowledgement from the farmer.”

Subsequent to the issue of draft audit report to the Finance Ministry and exit conference, the DFS had advised the RBI and NABARD, the nodal agencies for implementation of the scheme, in January requesting them to issue instructions to lending institutions for taking immediate corrective measures in respect of audit observations.

The DFS instructed that institutions need to take action like recovery of money paid to ineligible beneficiaries and loans extended to MFIs, action against erring banks, fixing responsibility of bank officials as well as bank auditors.

The CAG has recommended that the Ministry, on its own part, may verify high-value claims of re-reimbursement, high-risk areas like inadmissible charges and at least sample claims of lending institutions to ensure that the financial interest of the government is protected.

“Follow-up action in response to complaints or inspections should be properly monitored,” the report added. Referring to the monitoring aspects, CAG report said the nodal agencies themselves were relying on certificates and data of lending institutions without conducting independent cross checks. “This raises the issue of conflict of interest, since in effect, the lending institutions were performing a dual role, first implementing and then monitoring their own work,” the report said.

The report said the audit observed that DFS and nodal agencies were aware of numerous flaws in the implementation of the scheme “yet they did not take adequate measures to rectify the same in timely manner”.

Over the last four financial years, the government has waived more than Rs 52,000 crore debt related to about 3.45 crore farmers.

Meanwhile, citing the CAG report on farm loan waiver, BJP today alleged there was a “big scam” worth Rs 10,000 crore in implementation of the scheme and demanded strict action against those responsible for it.

“The UPA government is for the scam, of the scam and by the scamsters. This is a huge scam of Rs 10,000 crore which stand looted in the Rs 50,000 crore scheme. This is a big fraud committed on the nation and we want strict action,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters outside Parliament.

He said the CAG report on farm loan waivers has come with hard evidences and “evidence in the farm loan waiver is a very big thing”. ”The estimate is that there is a scam of more than Rs 10,000 crore in the Rs 52,000 crore loan waiver. In this scheme, more than 34 lakh farmers who were eligible for the waiver were not granted any concessions and 24 lakh ineligible farmers were given huge benefits of this loan waiver,” Javadekar alleged.

The spokesperson said the scheme was “essentially skewed” because even if one single installment is repaid, one is not eligible for getting the waiver. ”That is why we see that Rs 60,000 crore have been distributed and farmers continue to die by hanging themselves and committing suicides,” he said.

Javadekar said in Delhi and Chandigarh, the loan waiver amount is more than in UP, Bihar and West Bengal put together. “This is how the schemes are being manipulated by vested interests and this is the face of the UPA government. We condemn it. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will look into it. But they owe answers. It is not just an irregularity. Thousands of crores cannot be given to ineligible people without somebody supporting it,” he said.

BJP leader Jaswant Singh said the scheme “was an electoral game and its shortcomings were bound to get exposed. Yes, there have been irregularities but the point is government’s money should not be spent to further the interest of political parties in elections.”