(a) whether the Government has noticed any misappropriation of funds allocated for various educational schemes in the country particularly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana;
(b) if so, the details thereof during the last three years, State-wise and the action taken so far especially for the schemes of SC/ST and minority sections in these States; and
(c) the corrective steps being taken to avoid such misappropriation in future?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a) to (c): Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Programme, proven cases of misappropriation have been reported from Himachal Pradesh for Rs.9.53 lakhs in 2010-11 against which an FIR was lodged, fraudulent transaction of Rs.32.07 lakh reported in Gujarat in 2010-11 for which an FIR was lodged, misappropriation of an amount of Rs.31.25 lakh reported in the State of Haryana, of which Rs.8.79 lakhs have been recovered. As regards Andhra Pradesh, information is given under:
s. N o State/UT Year Nature of Financial Amount Action Taken irregularities Em (Rs. in lakhs) bezzlement/Fraud / Misappropriation Andhra 2010- SSA & DPEP 301.48 The case is under Pradesh 2011 funds embezzled investigation by by an accounts officer the State Govt. of State Project Office by opening unofficial The case is under bank accounts. investigation by CID. Embezzlement of 1730.00 Value of properties of funds occurred during two main accused parties the period 2005-2006 out of ten was only Rs.3.83 to 2008-2009 crore, for which property attachment orders are stated to have been issued.
Audit Reports have also reported few cases of irregularities/fraudulent and misappropriation of funds in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Maharashtra, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, where besides initiating departmental proceedings against the persons found guilty, police complaints have been filed and investigations through State CID/Vigilance Department have been conducted. The persons concerned have been transferred, suspended or terminated and recoveries affected.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has a fairly intensive Financial Management System which includes annual audit by Chartered Accountants empanelled with Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, concurrent financial review by independent audit organisations as wed as system for internal audit. SSA conducts quarterly Review Meetings with Finance Controllers of all States/UTs for moni- toring the optimum utilization of funds.