Bhubaneswar, April 2 (AHN) The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has unearthed massive irregularities in the management of funds of Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC), set up in 2014 for undertaking tribal welfare and area development works in the mining-affected areas of the state.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi presented the CAG report on “Management of Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation Funds” in the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday.

The CAG during the audit found that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Adhoc CAMPA, has released (10 January 2015) Rs 869.42 crore to the OMBADC for the purpose of various developmental programmes in the mining-affected areas of the state.

Meanwhile, OMBADC had not taken any steps for the release of the rest amount of Rs 59.94 crore from the National Authority, CAMPA, New Delhi, until flagged by the CAG.

Besides, the OMBADC also received funds to the tune of Rs 16,833.54 crore from the mining lessees, as compensation money for developmental work in the mining-affected areas.

As per the CAG report, the Steel and Mines Department had not taken any effective steps to recover the amount of Rs 3,966.34 crore (with interest), due as compensation from the defaulting mining lessees (who had violated Forest (Conservation) Act/ Environmental Clearance guidelines) although six years had been lapsed (as of January 2023).

The CAG during the period 2017-2022 examined the projects funded by OMBADC in six sectors, including Housing, Skill Development, Drinking Water, Education, Health, and Nutrition in the mining-affected districts of the states.

The audit agency noted that project proposals for 27 Piped Water Supply projects in 49 villages of Angul, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur and Koraput districts for release of OMBADC funds under the drinking water supply sector have been submitted with a feasibility study, resulting in the halting of project work midway despite expenditure of Rs 1.73 crore.

The audit team, during on-ground verification, found overlapping of villages during implementation of drinking water supply projects with 86 households in five villages in Keonjhar district having two Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) each under different PWS projects in different phases, incurring an avoidable extra expenditure of Rs 12.45 crore.

The CAG also found irregularities in the funds released by OMBADC for projects under the housing sector in Odisha.

“An amount of Rs 13.94 crore had remained unutilised (as of March 2022), under the housing sector. However, it had not been refunded to the OMBADC, violating the decision of the BoD. Out of the 29,829 pucca houses targeted for completion by May 2018, 979 houses had remained incomplete, as of October 2022,” noted the report.

The CAG mentioned in its report that out of 200 candidates enrolled for skill development training, 191 candidates (95.50 per cent) were not from identified villages of the mineral-bearing areas.

Many eligible SC/ST youth of the mining-affected districts were deprived of the benefits of skill development training provided with the funds provided by the OMBADC. A sum of Rs 2.16 crore was spent on imparting training to candidates from other areas.

“Out of the total approved budget in the health sector, only Rs 229.98 crore (34.90 per cent) had been allocated to the mining blocks of four mining districts, with the balance being allocated for the non-mining blocks. This implied allocation of the compensation money for the health sector, in the mining blocks, was lower, despite direct health-related effects on the local inhabitants, due to illegal mining,” claimed the CAG.

Further, Silicosis screening, which was essential for people living in mining areas, could not be started in the four mining-affected districts.