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New Indian Express
5 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
‘Large portion of Palnadu's DMF funds unspent'
VIJAYAWADA: TDP floor leader and Narasaraopet MP Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu has called for a thorough review of the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund utilisation in Andhra Pradesh. Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Devarayalu sought detailed report on fund inflows, project implementation, affected populations, and audit mechanisms. According to the Ministry of Coal and Mines, Andhra Pradesh has received significant DMF collections since 2020-21. Palnadu district ranked fourth in the State with 2,078 sanctioned projects, of which only 964 have been completed. Another 720 are ongoing, 106 are yet to begin, and 288 have been scrapped or cancelled, reflecting gaps in planning and execution. Though Palnadu received over Rs 44.57 crore in allocations, a large portion remains unspent. As of 2024-25, Rs 123.98 crore was reported as spent, but full expenditure details were not disclosed. The Ministry stated that audits are conducted as per the Andhra Pradesh DMF Rules, 2016, and reports will be made public. The MP expressed concern over under-utilisation in the backward and mining-affected areas. He urged both the State and Centre to ensure transparency, timely execution, public disclosure of audits, and stronger oversight, so that mineral wealth leads to real benefits for local communities.
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Short recoveries, lost revenue cost Indian Railways Rs 543 crore: CAG
From non-recovery of Rs 148.61 crore in land licence fee from five government-aided schools by Northern Railway to nine zonal railways collectively failing to recover Rs 55.51 crore in District Mineral Foundation (DMF), the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has flagged financial irregularities and inefficiencies totalling Rs 543.17 crore by various zones and field units of the Indian Railways. In its compliance audit report on Railways for the year ending March 2023, which was tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday, the CAG found a consistent pattern of short recoveries, avoidable expenditures, mismanagement and loss of potential revenue in a total of 25 cases, which happened due to the violation of rules, regulations or directives by specific entities of railways. Among the most significant findings is Northern Railway's failure in recovering Rs 148.61 crore in land licence fee from five government-aided schools, despite clear directives to charge 6% of market value of the land. This was the largest single non-recovery cited in the report. The CAG has also found that a total of nine zonal railways — South Eastern, South Western, North Central, East Coast, Eastern, North Western, South East Central, West Central and Central Railway — collectively failed to recover Rs 55.51 crore in District Mineral Foundation (DMF) contributions from contractors from January 2015 to March 2024. The amount is DMF is used in the interest and benefit of persons and areas affected by mining-related operations. Another key finding in the CAG report is East Central Railway losing Rs 50.77 crore due to non-realisation of shunting charges at Bina siding (BCSK), for unbilled shunting activities using railway engines. The audit was conducted for a period from April 2020 to March 2023. The national auditor also said that the Southern Railway and Integral Coach Factory (ICF) manufactured a total of 28 Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) meter gauge coaches for Rs 27.91 crore without adequate technical assessment or consultation with the Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO). 'ICF did not comply with the instructions of MoR (Ministry of Railways) in developing a prototype coach in consultation with RDSO, which led to creation of ineffective and deficient assets at a cost of Rs 27.91 crore as NMR coaches were not put to effective use even after three years of manufacturing,' said the auditor. Similarly, some other findings are that South Central Railway incurred an 'avoidable financial liability' of Rs 23.16 crore in late fees due to delayed renewal of licences for Very High Frequency (VHF) sets. Central Railway faced extra expenditure of Rs 15.62 crore on Road Under Bridges (RUBs) in Diva-Panvel-Jasai-JNPT section on Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) due to non-adherence to cost apportionment instructions, with the state government not contributing its share. South Central Railway irregularly reimbursed Rs 15.51 crore in seigniorage charges to contractors, by amending contract provisions without the Ministry's approval, the report said. Western Railway suffered a revenue loss of Rs 12.62 crore from June 2021 to September 2023 due to non/delayed upgrade of routes to higher axle-load capacity, restricting freight loading, it said. Similarly, Northeast Frontier and South Central Railways did not realise Rs 12.76 crore in maintenance and inspection charges from Container Corporation of India due to the non-execution of formal agreements. South Western Railways construction of a road over bridge without ensuring approach road work by the state government resulted in Rs 11.81 crore in blocked capital for more than five years (2018 to 2023) and non-elimination of level crossing. Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal correspondent with The Indian Express, Business Bureau. He covers India's two key ministries- Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He frequently uses the Right to Information (RTI) Act for his stories, which have resulted in many impactful reports. ... Read More
The Hindu
21-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
CAG flags lapses worth ₹573 crore in Indian Railways
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) flagged lapses worth ₹573 crore in the Railways as detailed in the 'Union Government (Railways) – Compliance Audit Report' tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday (July 21, 2025). The report contains 25 audit observations including shortfalls in revenue recovery, and execution of projects across multiple zones. The instances mentioned in this report came to notice in the course of test audit conducted up to financial year 2022-23. One of the most expensive lapses for Railways was the Northern Railway's non-compliance with Railway Board directives to recover licence fee at the rate of 6% of land value from five government-aided schools, which led to short recovery of licence fee of ₹148.61 crore. Another costly shortfall involved nine railway zones being unable to recover ₹55.51 crore during the period from January 2015 to March 2024 towards District Mineral Foundation (DMF) in the interest and benefit of persons and areas affected by mining-related operations. Contribution towards DMF is supposed to be deducted from contractors along with royalty, in case the same is not paid by the contractor. The report notes that non-realisation of shunting charges for shunting activity by using railway engines at Bina Siding of East Central Railway resulted in non-realisation of ₹50.77 crore from the siding owner between April 2020 and March 2023. Also, the Southern Railway planned in May 2015 to replace 28 Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) meter gauge coaches. The Ministry of Railways advised Integral Coach Factory (ICF) to design and develop a prototype coach. ICF manufactured 28 NMR coaches and delivered these between March 2019 and March 2021 to the Southern Railway at a cost of ₹27.91 crore. 'ICF did not comply with the instructions of MoR (Ministry) in developing a prototype coach in consultation with Research, Design and Standards Organisation which led to creation of ineffective and deficient assets at a cost of ₹27.91 crore as NMR coaches were not put to effective use even after three years of manufacturing,' the report states. South Eastern Railway supplied unfit or unloadable wagons along with fit wagons to Ultratech Cement Limited Siding at Dhutra and Orissa Cement Limited Siding at Rajgangpur. These defective wagons were allowed to run empty along with fit wagons in the outward rakes for different locations. As a result, South Eastern Railway could not earn potential freight to the tune of ₹10.25 crore for these defective empty wagons during 2021-22 and 2022-23. Non-implementation of the revised rate of electricity charges of various State Electricity Boards (SEBs) for recovery from the occupants of railway quarters in Dhanbad Division of East Central Railway resulted in short recovery of ₹14.89 crore. Even after poor patronage of an express train between Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam (SSPN) station and KSR Bengaluru City (SBC) station, which was repeatedly reported by Bengaluru (SBC) Division, South Western Railway (SWR) continued its operation. 'This resulted in loss of ₹17.47 crore on its running during the period from 2017-18 to 2022-23,' the report notes. In violation of stipulated provisions, Northeast Frontier Railway administration accepted higher rates for procurement of machine-crushed track ballast ignoring the last accepted rates prevailing in the same area. This resulted in undue benefit of ₹9.40 crore to the contractor due to procurement at a higher rate. Delayed implementation of directives in Western Railway over three routes for more than two years led to lower loading of commodities worth 51,453 tonne in rakes resulting in revenue loss of ₹6.17 crore during the period from June 2021 to September 2023. 'In one other such route, these directives were yet to be implemented. As a result, 23,817 tonnes of commodity could not be loaded in rakes resulting in loss of revenue of ₹6.45 crore during the period from April 2022 to September 2023,' the report notes. The report further notes that to garner additional traffic, concession in freight rates was allowed by the Railways under the Station-to-Station Rates (STS) scheme. The Railway Board issued comprehensive guidelines, which specifically instructed the zonal railways to ensure that this concession results in increased freight traffic and the consignees should not be able to take concession in the name of new traffic by changing the loading point or by diverting the existing traffic. However, the Southern Railway administration sanctioned ineligible concession resulting in loss of ₹11.02 crore to the Railways. Also, the report states that the Eastern Railway failed to implement the Railway Board's instructions and provisions of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for construction of a road over bridge (ROB). As a result, the State government's share to the extent of ₹13.52 crore could not be realised even after commissioning of the ROB.
New Indian Express
17-07-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Odisha's Sundargarh introduces bakery units to boost millet items availability
ROURKELA: After expanding millets cultivation target to 13,050 hectares (ha) in the kharif crop season 2025 in Sundargarh district, as many as 12 bakery units have been roped in for value addition to the highly nutritious food grains. Sundargarh chief district agriculture officer (CDAO) LB Mallick said, under the Shree Anna Abhiyan (SAA), 12 bakery units across as many blocks received machineries to prepare cookies and other bakery products. The initiative aims to increase the availability of millet-based products in rural markets and boost consumption. Bakery units have been established in Hemgir, Lefripada, Tangarpali, Balishankara, Nuagaon, Kuanrmunda, Kutra, Rajgangpur, Lathikata, Bonai, Lahunipada and Gurundia blocks for manufacturing and marketing millet-based items. Each bakery unit received gas oven, planetary mixture and cookies cutting machine totalling Rs 5-6 lakhs. These units will procure millets from local farmers, farmer producers' groups or local markets. According to sources, out of 17 blocks in the district, millet production occurs in 15 blocks excluding Bisra and Koida. Three millet producing blocks-Sadar, Subdega, and Bargaon lack bakery units for paucity of fund. The SAA programme in seven of the 15 blocks is funded from the state plan, while remaining eight blocks are supported by Sundargarh district mineral foundation (DMF). The district operates 67 Millet Shakti Tiffin Centres run by women SHGs and selling various millet based snacks and foods.
Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Indian Express
Chhattisgarh: After back-to-back encounters, Maoists kill 2 teachers claiming they were informers
After back to back encounters in the Indravati national park in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, Maoists Tuesday killed two shiksa doots (education messengers) suspecting them to be police informers, taking the total number of civilians killed in Maoist violence so far this year to 25. The state government introduced Education messenger as a temporary arrangement in remote villages in the Bastar region as hiring teachers was difficult for such villages. A villager, who has completed HSC, is hired as a teacher in the village and is paid Rs 12,000 per month from the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds. They teach in primary schools which are mostly run in small huts. The incident took place in a remote village in the national park area around 57 km from the Bijapur district headquarters on Monday night in Farsegad police station jurisdiction. The deceased have been identified as Vinod Made, 28, from Pillur village and Suresh Meta, 29, from Tekameta village.
