|
Mr. Pritam Nachankar, Special Correspondent, Daily ‘Sanatan Prabhat’
Mumbai, 25 February – The Government has established various corporations, authorities and boards for the welfare of different sections of society. These bodies are meant to function in public service and not for generating profit for the Government. However, under the guise of “public service”, financial indiscipline within these institutions is being overlooked.
As of 14 December 2025, as many as 768 annual reports of corporations, boards, authorities, commissions, institutions and universities in the State are pending. These include annual audit reports and activity reports. While a delay of one or two years may be understandable in certain cases, it has emerged that some institutions have not submitted reports for as long as 14 years. This situation not only undermines administrative discipline but also amounts to a disregard for the Legislature. This information was obtained by Sanatan Prabhat’s Special Correspondent, Mr Pritam Nachankar, from the Legislature under the Right to Information Act. The Government must take serious note of this matter.
Government and semi-government corporations are required to submit their financial statements to the Government every year. To ensure financial discipline and prevent irregularities, it is mandatory for these institutions to present their annual reports before the Legislature. Despite repeated correspondence from the Legislature Secretariat, many institutions have failed to comply. The number of institutions with reports pending for 3 to 14 years stands at 125. Universities are also included in this list.
Institutions with the highest number of pending annual reports
Year-wise classification of pending reports
Delay reasons reduced to mere formalities
As per rules, when submitting delayed reports before the Legislature, institutions must also provide reasons for the delay. In practice, however, this has become a mere formality. Instead of giving concrete reasons, identifying lapses and outlining corrective measures, most institutions simply provide a sequence of procedural events. As a result, citing reasons for delay has turned into an empty ritual.
In this regard, an official from the concerned department of the Legislature Secretariat stated that government corporations were not getting access to “government auditors” for conducting audits. (What could be more outrageous than this ? Government institutions claim they cannot find anyone to prepare accounts and therefore do not prepare reports for 14 years ? Officials of such government bodies who give such explanations should now be dismissed from service ! – Editor)
Overall, this situation is extremely serious from the perspective of both administrative functioning and legislative accountability. Ideally, members should raise their voices in the House on such matters; however, that has not happened. Consequently, under the pretext of “public service”, the negligent functioning of government corporations, boards and authorities continues unchecked.
Response of Legislature Secretary Jitendra Bhole
Reports are tabled in the House as per the rules applicable to the respective institutions. Earlier, there used to be greater delays in submitting reports. Compared to that, there has now been improvement, stated Legislature Secretary Jitendra Bhole while responding to Sanatan Prabhat regarding the delay in submission of reports.
Editorial Perspectives
|
Illegal church in Solapur and misconduct by a municipal employee to be investigated
Karnataka: Religious fanatics breaks farmer’s hand over bursting firecrackers in front of a mosque !
Wife earning more than her husband is not entitled to maintenance : Karnataka High Court
‘Paper-Leak’ : Professors of ‘Bad Practice’
Gold jewellery seized by the police stolen from a police station in Kerala !
A four-wheeler suspended by a crane and deliberately blown up in Badnagar (Madhya Pradesh) !