New Delhi:
Instead of using the money sanctioned to them for improving basic services in cities, 22 state governments parked the money in banks, earning Rs 210 crores as interest, says the government's auditor or CAG.
In a report handed over to Parliament today, CAG finds a series of lapses in the implementation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, a scheme that aims at modernising cities and improving infrastructure and providing free housing and other services to the urban poor.
The scheme was launched in 2005, and aims at spending one lakh crore or one trillion dollars over six years to provide better sanitation, waste management and other facilities in cities. The scheme is implemented by the Ministry for Urban Development, now headed by Kamal Nath.
CAG's report says that less than 9% of the projects assigned for 2005-2011 have been completed. In Uttar Pradesh, not a single project has been completed in seven cities. In Delhi, four of 28 projects have been completed.
Out of 16 lakh houses to be built for the poor, barely a fourth have been built and only half of those been occupied, in some cases, by ineligible residents. For example, in Kochi in Kerala, three colonies meant to provide low-cost housing were being used by local corporation employees who have regular sources of income and are therefore not entitled to these subsidised flats.