Goa govt incurred 'infructuous' spending of Rs 1.91 crore through excess procurement of tur dal during pandemic: CAG

The Goa government incurred "infructuous expenditure" of Rs 1.91 crore on the procurement of tur dal or pigeon peas for distribution to people during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) has said in its report.

The tur dal procured was 400 metric tonnes (MT), which was in excess of the quantity required for its distribution to citizens, it said, adding that more than 2

40 MT of the produce remained undistributed and ultimately became unsafe for consumption, even for cattle and poultry. The CAG 2021 report, which mentioned this, was tabled in the state legislative assembly on Thursday, the last day of the the Monsoon session. 

The state civil supplies department faced a loss of Rs 1.91 crore due to the procurement of a large quantity of tur dal without assessment of consumer demand and lifting capacity of the fair price shops in the state, the CAG said. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (DCSCA) decided to provide relief to the population of 2.04 lakh above the poverty line and Annapurna ration card holders (ANP) by supplying one kg tur dal per cardholder for four months (April to July 2020) under the public distribution system, the report said. 

The CAG observed that the sale of 100 metric tonnes of tur dal was planned through the Goa State Horticultural Corporation Limited (GSHCL), while the remaining produce was to be sold through fair-price shops. 

Accordingly, the DCSCA placed an order with the National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) on March 30, 2020, for the supply of 800 MT of tur dal at Rs 79,000 per metric tonnes, the report said.

Secretary of the DCSCA had granted post-facto administrative approval and expenditure sanction of Rs 6.80 crore for procurement of 800 MT, the Goa government in its cabinet meeting held on April 22, 2020, resolved to distribute 408 MT tur dal, one kg per card for a period of two months (April and May 2020), it added. 

The NAFED supplied 400 MT of tur dal, out of which only 139.57 MT (34.23 per cent) was lifted during April-May 2020, the CAG said. 

Despite further extensions till September 2020, only 16.42 MT of the balance of 260.43 MT was lifted by the fair price shops. The reason for low off-take was a poor response from ration card holders, it said. 

The Goa State Horticulture Corporation Limited refused to lift and supply the remaining tur dal to the consumers, the CAG said and pointed out that the Education Department agreed to lift the entire 241.21 MT for distribution under the mid-day meal scheme. 

However, a quality check carried out by the Food and Drugs Administration at the behest of the Secretary, of Civil Supplies revealed in November 2020 that the entire quantity of tur dal was "unsafe food", the CAG observed. 

Efforts to dispose of the tur dal as ingredients for cattle/poultry feed did not fructify as the tur dal was not suitable even for that as per the report of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, it said.