The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has identified widespread financial irregularities across several Assam government departments, including procurement lapses, undue payments to contractors, excess land compensation, and wasteful public expenditure. The findings, which involve more than Rs 56 crore, are contained in the CAG’s Report No. 3 of 2026 on Social, Economic and General Sectors for the year ended March 2024.
The audit examined compliance with financial rules, procurement procedures, and execution of public projects across multiple departments, including Water Resources, Revenue and Disaster Management, Public Works, Administrative Reforms and Training, Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare, and Tribal Affairs (Plain). The report highlights recurring weaknesses in project planning, tender evaluation, contract management, procurement oversight, and financial controls.
One of the most significant observations relates to the Directorate of Tribal Affairs (Plain), where the CAG found that the department incurred avoidable expenditure exceeding Rs 28 crore while implementing welfare schemes. The audit also identified serious deficiencies in the distribution process, with payments amounting to Rs 9.92 crore released to suppliers without verifying whether the intended beneficiaries had actually received the goods.
The Water Resources Department came under scrutiny after the audit found that the Departmental Tender Committee awarded contracts using a manually prepared comparative statement instead of the system-generated comparative statement prescribed under the e-procurement process. This deviation resulted in undue payments of Rs 30.70 lakh to contractors. The Revenue and Disaster Management Department was also criticized for allowing an unjustified period of 365 days instead of the admissible 64 days while calculating additional compensation for acquired land, resulting in an excess payment of Rs 94.26 lakh to a landowner.
The Public Works Department accounted for some of the largest individual irregularities identified in the report, including irregular award of consultancy services and tenders finalized using altered item rates. The Administrative Reforms and Training Department was criticized for spending Rs 2.14 crore on establishing a training institute without obtaining mandatory forest clearance or carrying out an adequate feasibility assessment. The project was subsequently closed, rendering the entire expenditure wasteful.
The Women and Child Development Department was found to have procured rice from the open market despite allocations being available from the Food Corporation of India (FCI), resulting in excess expenditure of Rs 7.24 crore under the Scheme for Adolescent Girls. The Health and Family Welfare Department was also pulled up after ancillary works worth Rs 1.62 crore became unusable following their demolition for the construction of a new medical college and hospital, rendering the expenditure unfruitful.
The audit identified a common pattern of weak financial governance, inadequate internal controls, and poor adherence to procurement norms across departments. The findings are likely to trigger closer scrutiny of procurement practices and project implementation across Assam government departments, particularly in welfare schemes and infrastructure projects.
