BOCW claims 100% pending, CAG finds

This audit examined the performance and compliance of various Government of Andhra Pradesh departments and schemes, including welfare for construction workers, school infrastructure, nutrition programs, and industrial infrastructure, for the period ended March 2022.

Who it concerns: Government of Andhra Pradesh, specifically the Labour, Factories, Boilers and Insurance Medical Services Department; School Education Department; Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens Department; Industries and Commerce Department (AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation); Higher Education Department; Tribal Welfare Department; Youth Advancement, Tourism and Culture Department; Transport, Roads & Buildings Department; and Home Department.

What the auditor found

• Cess collection and transfer for Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) was inefficient, with welfare spending dropping from 25.12% to 0.53% of yearly income between 2017-18 and 2021-22.
• ₹54 lakh was spent on the 'Nava Nirmana Karmikulu App' which was not developed to provide real-time information on worker registration and benefits.
• BOCW welfare claims pending increased from 0.26% to 100% during 2017-22, resulting in denial of benefits to workers.
• Administrative expenditure for the BOCW Board exceeded the 5% limit, ranging from 13% to 63% during 2019-20 to 2021-22.
• Differences in Personal Deposit (PD) accounts between Government and Board annual accounts ranged from ₹13 crore to ₹205.22 crore.
• Avoidable expenditure of ₹1.89 crore in the Higher Education Department due to non-revision of Contracted Maximum Demand (CMD).
• Unfruitful expenditure of ₹75.25 lakh in the Tribal Welfare Department due to non-resumption of construction for the Sri Alluri Sita Rama Raju Memorial Tribal Museum.
• Infructuous expenditure of ₹1.33 crore in the Youth Advancement, Tourism and Culture Department for the Krishna River Wildlife Park project.
• Short supply of milk, balamrutham, and eggs identified in the 'Sampoorna Poshana' scheme during 2019-2022.
• Non-levy and short collection of Frontage Charges and property tax by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation.

Also in the document

• CAG found that the percentage of BOCW welfare scheme claims pending rose to 100% by 2022, meaning no claims were settled in that period.
• CAG reported a discrepancy of up to ₹205.22 crore in Personal Deposit accounts between the Government's annual accounts and the BOCW Board's records.
• CAG noted that administrative costs for the BOCW Board reached 63% of total expenditure, far exceeding the statutory limit of 5%.