CAG audit finds ₹1,662 crore of Odisha DMF funds used outside rules and outside mining-affected areas

Key facts

• The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) flagged ₹1,662 crore of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds in Odisha spent outside norms, including ₹983.32 crore in 976 villages not affected by mining and ₹679.14 crore on projects beyond the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) framework.
• The CAG performance audit covered 2015-16 to 2023-24 across Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Kendujhar, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur and Sundargarh districts, which collected ₹22,568.17 crore and sanctioned 17,435 projects worth ₹20,947.52 crore.
• Not a single DMF project was implemented in 488 directly affected and 96 indirectly affected villages in Kendujhar and Sundargarh.
• None of the six test-checked DMFs prepared the mandated perspective plan, master plan or endowment fund despite collecting ₹20,795.51 crore in DMF contributions and ₹1,772.66 crore in interest.
• Sundargarh DMF spent ₹136.77 crore on the International Hockey Stadium at Rourkela, which the CAG held was not permissible under PMKKKY guidelines.
• Three DMFs paid ₹145.06 crore to private hospitals for Covid-19 care without instructions permitting PPP-mode bed hiring, including an excess payment of ₹10.6 crore to Jai Prakash Hospital and Research Centre Private Limited, Rourkela.
• Implementing agencies in Jajpur, Kendujhar and Sundargarh did not return ₹470.25 crore in unspent project funds plus ₹26.51 crore in interest to the DMFs after project completion.
• Jajpur DMF spent ₹4.3 crore on private medical coaching for 437 students, of whom only six qualified for medical college admission, which the CAG held violated guidelines.
• ₹171.79 crore was released from the Jajpur, Kendujhar and Sundargarh DMFs to the Director, MGNREGS, for additional wages in violation of Ministry of Rural Development provisions.