Kolkata, July 26 -- The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged Rs 218.04 crore worth of irregularities in the management of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) in West Bengal, finding that funds were kept outside the fund in violation of guidelines, remained unutilised for prolonged periods, and relief materials were either used under programmes not covered by prescribed norms or could not be accounted for during audit.

According to the CAG's Compliance Audit Report (Report No. 4 of 2025), the previous state government kept Rs 218.04 crore outside the SDRF as of March 2023, resulting in a loss of interest of Rs 4.51 crore. The audit also found that Rs 5.56 crore earned as interest on SDRF funds was retained in savings bank accounts instead of being credited to the fund.

The CAG further reported that Rs 90.08 crore was withdrawn from the SDRF and transferred to Personal Deposit (PD) and bank accounts. Of this, Rs 36.51 crore was surrendered to the SDRF after remaining parked for 582 to 788 days, while the remaining Rs 53.57 crore was neither utilised nor returned for 371 to 973 days.

The audit noted that the state government paid Rs 4.88 crore as interest due to the delayed transfer of its matching share to the SDRF after the Centre had released its contribution.

The report also found that relief materials worth Rs 105.46 crore were allotted for disaster response between 2018-19 and 2022-23.

However, materials valued at Rs 29.77 crore were used under social welfare programmes, including Puja, Eid and winter relief, which were not covered under SDRF guidelines. Besides, relief materials worth Rs 15.38 crore issued from government stores could not be accounted for during audit.

The CAG flagged expenditure of Rs 23.85 crore on sea-shore protection and repair/restoration of embankments not covered under SDRF guidelines and Rs 6.93 crore paid as ex gratia in cases of deaths due to lightning,

accidental fire, electrocution and boat capsizing, though such incidents were not classified as natural calamities under SDRF norms.

It further observed that expenditure on relief materials exceeded the prescribed 25 per cent ceiling during 2021-22, violating SDRF guidelines.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.