Kashmir Impulse Desk

Srinagar, April 6

An audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has identified more than Rs 1.24 lakh crore in government spending in Jammu and Kashmir that was incurred without legislative approval, raising concerns about long-standing lapses in financial oversight.

The expenditure, accumulated between 1980-81 and 2019-20, remains pending for regularisation, according to the audit report for the year ending March 2024.

Under established financial rules, any spending that exceeds the budget approved by the legislature must be subsequently placed before it for authorization. The report found that this process had not been followed for the expenditures in question.

It attributed the lapse, in part, to the failure of the Public Accounts Committee – the legislative body responsible for scrutinizing government finances – to examine appropriation accounts over several decades.

“As the appropriation accounts from 1980-81 onwards were not discussed by the Public Accounts Committee, the excess expenditure remains unregularized,” the report said.

The unapproved spending spans 543 grants and appropriations across multiple departments, reflecting a pattern that persisted over successive years. 

In some instances, the excess outlays were particularly high, including more than Rs 12,900 crore in 2005-06 and nearly Rs 9800 crore in 2003-04.

The issue continued into more recent years. 

In 2019-20, the final year before the reorganization of the former state into two Union Territories, excess expenditure of over Rs 5300 crore was recorded.

Auditors said the prolonged failure to regularize such spending undermines financial discipline and weakens budgetary controls, key elements of public financial management.

In response, the Finance Department described the matter as a “legacy issue” and said the expenditures would be brought before the legislature for approval.

The findings add to broader concerns about fiscal governance in the region, particularly as authorities seek to strengthen accountability mechanisms in the years following its administrative reorganization.