The Madhya Pradesh Government suffered a loss of Rs 4.94 crore in interest due to abnormal delay in the realisation of forest development cess and its belated deposit by the State Forest Produce (Trade and Development) Co-operative Federation limited to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF).
This was revealed in a report submitted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in the Assembly on Saturday for the year ended 2013. According to the report, the Federation paid the cess amount to the tune of Rs 34.97 crore, 11 to 35 months belatedly to the PCCF. The rules provide that the cess collected for a particular month should be deposited latest by the 15th of next month.
This not only resulted in the loss of interest to the tune of Rs 4.94 crore calculated on the basis of bank rate but also unauthorised financial aid to the Federation. When the matter was pointed out, the Government admitted the delay in payment of cess by the Federation to the Forest department due to the annual accounts of the district unions being received late in the Federation’s office.
The reply was not found by the CAG in consonance with the provisions of the Madhya Pradesh Financial Code and the Madhya Pradesh Karadhan (Van Vikas Upkar) rules. The report recommended that the rules governing the collection of Forest development cess be amended by incorporating penal provisions for delayed transfer into the Government’s account so that it acts as deterrence against belated remittance.