Opposition leader demands CAG audit of KIIFB funds

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has flayed the decision of the state government to deny permission to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to audit the funds of Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
In a letter written to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the opposition leader urged that all the transactions under the KIIFB should be audited by the CAG.When the rules were framed in 1999 for the enactment of KIIFB, the CAG was given the permission to audit all the funds and transactions of KIIFB.
However, when the LDF government came to power in 2016, an amendment was made in this rule, removing the powers of the CAG to audit the funds, he said.
Ramesh said it was most unfortunate that state government did not even respond to the letters send by the CAG to audit the funds of KIIFB. “If there is no audit from the CAG, there will be every chance of widespread corruption in the utilisation of the KIIFB funds. Hence, the state government should take a serious note of the letters written by the CAG,” he said.
“The CAG, itself, has pointed out that there would be serious allegations against the fund utilisation by the KIIFB if it is not audited by the central agency. The opposition has several times demanded this in the assembly also. There is a need to ensure transparency in the fund utilisation under KIIFB,” Ramesh said. Even speaker P Sreeramakrishnan himself had stressed the need for ensuring transparency in the KIIFB fund utilisation when the discussion on masala bonds had come before the assembly, he said.
“The KIIFB has claimed that they have sanctioned projects worth Rs 43,700 crore when the funds available at KIIFB is only Rs 10,000 crore. Of this, Rs 6000 crore is given as grant by the state government and the remaining is received through cess collected. Hence, the KIIFB has depended on loans to carry out the projects undertaken. There is no doubt that the loans will be taken under the government guarantee and hence, there is a need for proper auditing on the funds utilised,” said the opposition leader.
Meanwhile, Congress deputy leader in the assembly K C Joseph has sought a white paper on the financial position of the state. “Due to acute financial crisis, the plan fund utilisation has come to a standstill. Till August 31, of the Rs 7,500 crore plan fund allotted to the local self-government, only Rs 1,305 crore has been utilised. For the slow pace of fund utilisation, the government is putting flood as the reason, which is a blatant lie,” said Joseph.