Imphal: A sweeping audit of Manipur’s public finances has uncovered deep-rooted administrative lapses, weak regulatory oversight, and widespread inefficiencies across key sectors, raising fresh concerns over governance and fiscal discipline in the state.
The report, prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ending March 2023, paints a troubling picture of systemic gaps spanning welfare delivery, infrastructure execution, revenue collection and public sector accountability.
Governance lapses and welfare failures
At the heart of the findings lies a pattern of non-compliance with established financial rules and contractual safeguards.
In one instance, the Tribal Affairs and Hills Department failed to collect mandatory performance guarantees from contractors in 19 construction projects worth ₹48.06 crore, effectively extending undue financial benefit of ₹2.4 crore. The lapse left the government exposed, with no financial buffer in case of non-performance by contractors.
Across departments, audit observations point to a broader culture of weak enforcement, delayed decision-making and poor internal controls.
A performance audit of welfare programmes for construction workers revealed serious deficiencies in the implementation of the Building and Other Construction Workers Act. Although the law was enacted in 1996, Manipur framed its rules only in 2008, reflecting a 12-year delay.
Even after institutional mechanisms were established, execution remained patchy. The state failed to properly identify and register eligible workers and employers, with audit findings showing duplicate registrations and weak verification systems. In one striking example, 433 beneficiaries were found to have identical personal details but were assigned multiple registration numbers.
Financial management of welfare funds was equally problematic. Of ₹101.15 crore collected as labour cess, only ₹63.61 crore was transferred to the welfare board, leaving ₹37.54 crore unutilised in government accounts. Additionally, cheques worth ₹16.08 crore issued to the board were dishonoured, further eroding the fund base.
Delays in the disbursal of benefits were also significant. In several cases, financial assistance to beneficiaries’ families following natural deaths was delayed by up to five years.
Infrastructure gaps, revenue leakages and weak accountability
The audit of solid waste management systems in urban areas revealed a near collapse of basic planning and execution. None of the urban local bodies examined had conducted assessments of waste generation or prepared budgetary allocations for waste management.
Segregation of waste at source was absent across all sampled areas, and waste was routinely dumped at open sites without processing. The use of uncovered vehicles for transportation and the lack of protective gear for sanitation workers highlighted both environmental and occupational hazards.
Auditors warned that such practices could exacerbate public health risks, including the spread of water-borne and vector-borne diseases.
In the economic sector, the state’s tourism push suffered from a lack of planning and chronic delays. Despite budget allocations exceeding ₹1,100 crore over five years, actual expenditure remained significantly lower, indicating poor utilisation of funds.
Several tourism projects remained incomplete for years, with some abandoned after partial spending. In one case, infrastructure worth ₹16.83 crore remained idle, while a light-and-sound show project costing ₹6.35 crore never became operational after inauguration.
The audit attributed these failures to the absence of a comprehensive tourism master plan, weak monitoring systems and delays in fund release.
The revenue sector audit flagged significant lapses in tax administration, particularly under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Thousands of taxpayers failed to file returns, with authorities initiating action in only a fraction of cases.
Estimated revenue losses due to non-filing of GST returns stood at ₹13.22 crore in sampled zones. In addition, discrepancies in input tax credit and tax liabilities amounting to over ₹34 crore were detected, reflecting weak scrutiny mechanisms.
Further enforcement gaps led to tax evasion, non-realisation of vehicle taxes and failure to apply GST provisions on public works, resulting in additional revenue losses.
The financial health of state-run enterprises also drew concern. The audit noted a growing backlog in the finalisation of accounts, with pending statements rising steadily over the years. Two entities alone accounted for more than half of the pending accounts, raising questions about transparency and oversight.
Perhaps most concerning was the lack of follow-up action on audit findings. Hundreds of audit observations remain unresolved, and a significant number of recommendations by legislative committees have not been acted upon.
As of March 2023, more than 11,800 audit paragraphs across sectors were still pending settlement, pointing to a systemic failure in enforcing accountability.
Taken together, the findings suggest that the issues are not isolated but structural—rooted in weak institutional capacity, inadequate monitoring and delayed administrative responses.
While the state government has acknowledged several lapses and promised corrective action, the report underscores the urgent need for reforms in financial governance, transparency and service delivery to prevent further erosion of public resources and trust.
Also Read: Treaty of Yandabo at 200: How it recast India’s Northeast
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