Only 6561 verified in 2019-20, less than 2000 in 2020-21
*Resentment in teams over non-payment of TA/DA
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 21: Notwithstanding the tall claims of the Government, physical verification of the projects across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is going on at a ‘snail’s pace’ because of lack of coordination between different agencies.
Moreover, the employees, who have been engaged for the task, are not being paid any TA/DA despite making numerous representations to the Finance Department as such resentment is brewing among them.
The physical verification of the projects completed under various schemes in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir was ordered by the Finance Department vide Government Order No.24-FD of 2020 dated January 17, 2020.
It was mentioned in the order that institution of District Statistics and Evaluation Officer (DSEO) will be strengthened and provided adequate manpower for the purpose. Moreover, deployment of Statistical Officers/Statistical Assistants and Junior Statistical Assistants was ordered for three days a week.
“Each DSEO will work out a plan for 100% verification of all projects taken up during a year and submit the monthly progress report by 5th of each month to Regional Director, Economics and Statistics with a copy to Finance Department clearly pointing out achievements against the target and shortcomings during the verification with respect to the execution of various projects”, the Financial Commissioner Finance had further mentioned in the order.
The objective behind this initiative was to ensure accountability in the implementation of the projects. In the recently released document, the Finance Department has claimed that 100% physical verification has been made compulsory and an institutional setup has been created in each district for ensuring 100% physical verification of all the ongoing and completed projects.
However, the official data, the copy of which is available with EXCELSIOR, reveals that physical verification of projects is going on at a ‘snail’s pace’ and not up to the desired level.
Out of 10500 projects completed during 2019-20, 6561 projects have been physically verified by the Regional Directors of the Economics and Statistics. Similarly, 16000 projects were targeted for completion during 2020-21 despite the challenges of pandemic but only 1085 projects (both completed and under execution) were physically verified by the teams of the officers constituted for the purpose.
This indicates that either 16000 projects targeted for completion during 2020-21 were not completed or physical verification was going on at ‘snail’s pace’, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “this is also the testimony of lack of coordination between different Government agencies and slackness on the part of the District Statistical and Evaluation Officers, who are supposed to play key role in ensuring 100% physical verification of the completed projects”.
As per the order of January 17, 2020, each District Statistical and Evaluation Officer is required to work out a plan for 100% verification of all projects taken up during a year and submit the monthly progress report to the Regional Director with a copy to the Finance Department.
Moreover, strong resentment is brewing among the teams constituted for physical verification of projects as Government has not worked out any mechanism of providing them TA/DA for this additional task.
In a number of communications addressed to the Financial Commissioner Finance Department, these teams have conveyed that every month 1/3rd of their salaries are spent on tours for visiting the executing offices and the sites of projects for conducting the physical verification of the projects.
“Sometimes the distance of the projects from District Headquarters is more than 80 kilometres but there is no Government transport facility and in such a situation these teams are compelled to either hire private vehicles or travel in their own vehicles at their own expense”, read one of the communications, the copy of which is also available with EXCELSIOR.
Pointing towards the lack of coordination between different agencies, the communication said that the executing departments often hesitate to provide the actual documents of the projects mainly because there is lack of communication between the higher authorities and the executing departments.
“Even during the pandemic times we are conducting physical verification of the projects by putting our lives to the grave risk but despite all this no incentives are given to us”, the communication further read. “If the Government really wants to achieve the objective behind this mechanism it should expedite physical verification by removing all the bottlenecks and consider the genuine demand of the teams”, sources stressed.
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