CAG finds Atomic Energy delayed land transfer policy for 14 years

This audit examined the compliance of transactions for eight Scientific and Environmental Ministries/Departments of the Union Government, including their autonomous bodies and central public sector enterprises, for the year ended March 2024.

Union Government: Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

• Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) lacked a comprehensive land transfer policy for over 14 years despite Cabinet Secretariat directions, leading to non-uniform practices and loss of potential revenue from delayed lease renewals.
• DAE had not formulated Uniform Departmental Pool Residential Accommodation Rules 71 years after its establishment, resulting in inconsistent allotment and fee recovery practices.
• Tata Memorial Centre (under DAE) lacked an approved IT Policy, IT Steering Committee, and Data Retention Policy, with weak password controls and no cryptographic security for storing patient Aadhaar numbers.
• Tata Memorial Centre had no Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan and continued making payments to vendors despite unresolved technical issues due to lack of Service Level Agreements.
• Department of Space incurred avoidable expenditure of ₹1.45 crore on elevator replacements and repairs due to non-completion of installation sites for over seven years.
• Department of Science and Technology incurred unfruitful expenditure of ₹1.52 crore due to non-utilization of a laser welding machine procured for ₹1.08 crore because required infrastructure was not in place.
• Department of Biotechnology made irregular payments of ₹67.48 lakh as travelling allowance for newly appointed scientists joining duty.
• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change incurred unauthorised expenditure of ₹1.99 crore on a Photo Gallery construction and excess expenditure of ₹1.86 crore on Technology Development Centres.
• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy recorded unfruitful expenditure of ₹5.07 crore in the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd.

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