In a big embarrassment to the Akhilesh Yadav Government, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has found cases of financial mismanagement during holding of Maha Kumbh Mela at Allahabad last year. “Finance management was not planned well. The demands made from Government of India were not realistic and UP ended up spending only one per cent of the entire expenditure of Maha Kumbh Mela,” the CAG report tabled in the UP Assembly says.
The report says that the funding pattern was labyrinthine with no nodal authority to keep proper track of the finances of the Mela. Besides, there were instances of delayed release of funds which compromised the quality of work and also their not being taken up on time.The CAG has pointed out that the planning for the Mela was not based on scientific parameters, particularly missing was synergy of purpose and co-ordination among the multiple executors and managers belonging to different departments/agencies as no Detailed Project Report (DPR) was prepared.
“Traffic plan was not comprehensive and arrangements for dissemination of important information to the public were lacking which led to unregulated movements,” the CAG has alleged.During the Maha Kumbh and on the main bathing day on February 10, 2013, more than 30 pilgrims were trampled in a stampede at Allahabad railway station.
The CAG report says that laws related to prevention of fire were not fully enforced while all the ‘kalpwasis’ were not given the envisaged ration cards and those, who got, received it late.It points out that there were several cases of fire during the Kumbh Mela.The report says that the labour laws were not enforced and the authorities were not really sensitive to the causes of differently abled persons and women despite copious laws and international commitments.
Besides, evidencing and documentation lacked the required rigor, the points out. Bharatiya Janata Party state spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said the CAG report had exposed the tall claims of the UP Government that it had organised the Maha Kumbh with all fanfare. “Urban Development Minister Mohd Azam Khan is claiming credit for successfully organising this congregation but the CAG report has punctured the Government’s this claim,” Pathak said.