CAG flags 'serious lapses' in Karnataka Building Workers’ Welfare Board

Bengaluru, Aug 20 (PTI) The CAG highlighted "serious lapses in the functioning" of the Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board, citing "irregularities" in cess collection, beneficiary registration, and implementation of welfare schemes.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report on “Welfare of Building and Other Construction Workers” was tabled in the Karnataka Assembly on Wednesday.

“The Board did not establish any methodology to assess officers for evaluating construction costs. Consequently, officers used rates determined by the Central Valuation Committee of the Stamps and Registration Department, intended for guidance value calculations during registration,” the report pointed out.

It also noted that the Board failed to reconcile amounts received towards labour welfare cess and ensure timely crediting to its deposit account, with “significant discrepancies” between amounts reported as remitted and amounts actually received.

According to the report, the Board returned 9,654 defective cheques and demand drafts accumulated since 2007-08, amounting to Rs 18.12 crore, without establishing a monitoring mechanism, despite audit observations in 2020.

Remittances of Rs 5.27 crore from the Karnataka Slum Development Board were yet to be traced as of August 2024, it added.

The CAG further found that Rs 6.06 crore collected by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) was not remitted and “was fully retained by BMTC for more than two years.” The Board also lacked a comprehensive database of cess-collecting agencies and did not appoint any authority to assess cess due and remitted.

On beneficiary registration, data from the Seva Sindhu Portal covering 42.5 lakh workers was “inadequately validated,” allowing ineligible workers such as tailors, clerks, and weavers to register and avail benefits.

Seva Sindhu is a Karnataka government initiative to deliver services at citizens’ doorsteps. It integrates various service delivery channels, including Grama One, Janasevaka, Karnataka One, and Bangalore One, bringing all departmental services onto a single platform.

The initiative aims to provide government services in a cashless, faceless, and paperless manner, promoting accessible, cost-effective, accountable, and transparent governance, the website said.

The report said the Board implemented 25 welfare schemes, including pension, medical, and educational assistance, but had “no provision to regulate pensions for workers who had expired after submitting applications.” It also criticised the release of Rs 433.80 crore to the Karnataka Slum Development Board and Rs 8.74 crore to the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation for a housing scheme “without obtaining beneficiary lists or details.” The Board split works under the Preventive Healthcare Training and Check-up scheme into 30 projects to "bypass Cabinet approval" and called for quotations instead of open tendering, leading to "irregular expenditure of Rs 258.80 crore." Payments were also made to unregistered workers or dependents, violating amended Act provisions. In the Mobile Clinic Units scheme, "lack of transparency, absence of pre-qualification criteria, and inadequate record-keeping hampered effectiveness." Against a budget provision of Rs 10,154.45 crore during 2018-19 to 2022-23, the Board incurred expenditure of Rs 6,198.34 crore, while total payments, including fixed deposits, stood at Rs 12,535.54 crore.

Despite improved expenditure since 2021-22, the CAG noted that the Board "did not establish an Internal Audit Wing or initiate Social Audit activities," and the State Level Monitoring Committee "did not convene a single meeting since its establishment." The board also "failed to hold at least four statutory meetings" annually, causing delays in decision-making and welfare scheme implementation, the report stated.

It further flagged that the rate of educational assistance, which exceeded the Government of India’s minimum during 2021-22, "was arbitrarily reduced in October 2023 in contravention of the Model Action Plan." PTI GMS SSK