Imphal: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has raised concerns about Manipur’s financial condition in its audit report for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader and MLA Keisham Meghachandra discussed the report’s findings at a press conference at Congress Bhavan in Imphal on Saturday and criticised the state government’s financial management.
According to the audit report, the state government did not spend Rs 8,927.55 crore, or 23.88 per cent of its total budgetary provision of Rs 37,392.66 crore. The shortfall was particularly high in the capital budget, where the government spent Rs 2,704.23 crore out of the allocated Rs 8,989.60 crore.
Meghachandra said the unspent amount of more than Rs 6,285 crore affected spending on public infrastructure, including schools, colleges, hospitals and roads.
He also pointed to a shortfall in central grants, saying the state received Rs 5,473.21 crore against the budgeted amount of Rs 16,015.85 crore.
On the state’s liabilities, Meghachandra said the government raised Rs 11,599.08 crore in new loans but used Rs 9,420 crore to repay the principal of previous loans. He described borrowing to repay earlier debts as highly irregular.
Meghachandra also questioned the lack of information about 138 projects allocated Rs 473 crore. He said details of expenditure amounting to Rs 229.94 crore from disaster management funds were also unavailable.
Citing what he described as failures in the state’s financial management, Meghachandra called for the resignation of the Finance Minister.