Overview

• Covering 2018–23, the compliance audit examined 11 of 22 ITDAs and found Rs 621.79 crore routed to 71 bank accounts for departmentally executed works.
• Bank statements for 67 of these accounts showed irrelevant or personal transactions totaling Rs 148.75 crore, including ATM withdrawals, POS and UPI payments, insurance premiums and mobile recharges.
• None of the sampled ITDAs had prepared annual accounts required under the Societies Registration Act, hampering detection of loss and wasteful expenditure.
• The audit cited violations of the OPWD Code and non‑transparent procurement, plus broader lapses such as incomplete or defective water projects under AMRUT and BASUDHA, water quality breaches, unsupported or excess payments, irregular invoices and outsized purchases at Paralakhemundi.
• The CAG urged the SC/ST department to halt engineer‑run accounts, review all related transactions and fix responsibility, and a senior official said the department will review the suspected transactions and take appropriate action.