CAG picks holes in Rs52,000-cr farm debt waiver scheme
05 Mar 2013
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pulled up the department of financial services for lax monitoring of the implementation of the Rs52,000-crore farm debt waiver scheme.
The government auditor today said that in several cases ineligible farmers were given benefits while deserving ones were left out. This was so in at least 22.32 per cent of the cases verifies, CAG said.
CAG also reported instances of tampering of records to facilitate diversion of funds.
''Overall, the performance audit revealed that there were lapses / errors, which raised serious concern about the implementation of the scheme,'' said the CAG report tabled in Parliament today.
The Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme (ADWDRS), 2008 was meant to provide debt relief totalling Rs52,516 crore to around 36.9 million small and marginal farmers and 6 million other farmers.
According to the CAG, there were several instances of the benefit of the debt waiver going to those who have taken loans for non-agricultural purposes.
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