E-Paper
Chandigarh: Audit flags ₹32L cost escalation in project, lapses on part of public health division
The test audit, conducted by the office of the director general of audit (Central), Sector 17-E, examined records from April 2023 to March 2025.
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A UT audit found financial and procedural lapses in the public health division’s functioning, including a ₹32 lakh cost escalation on a government school project, non-recovery of contractor penalties and expired bank guarantees to the tune of ₹10 lakh. The audit also found that 70 of the division’s 113 sanctioned posts were vacant, leaving only 43 employees to manage its responsibilities.
The test audit, conducted by the office of the director general of audit (Central), Sector 17-E, examined records from April 2023 to March 2025. The division, under the UT engineering department, handles public health infrastructure, rainwater harvesting, stormwater drainage and air-conditioning maintenance at government institutions and other public facilities.
Contract awarded for ₹45L, final payment ₹77L
The most significant finding was an alleged financial irregularity in the construction of an underground drinking water sump (tank) at Government Model High School, Sector 25. Although the contract was awarded for ₹45 lakh, the final payment rose to ₹77 lakh, an increase of nearly 37%. According to the audit, detailed estimates amounting to ₹72 lakh were prepared and the department obtained the administrative approval for ₹79 lakh of works. The deviations exceeding 10% were executed without prior technical concurrence, as required under rules.
Further, despite a delay of more than three months in completion of the project, the department failed to impose penalties to the tune of ₹2 lakh and recover an additional ₹2 lakh for the contractor’s failure to deploy the required technical engineers. It was also found that the final bill was paid without the mandatory completion certificates from the superintending or executive engineers.
Expired bank guarantees
The audit also found that performance bank guarantees to the tune of ₹10 lakh for projects including fire-fighting systems in government schools, air-conditioning upgrades at PG Government College, Sector 11, and tertiary water pipelines had expired without revalidation.
The division’s financial management also came under scrutiny. The central divisional cash book was not maintained at the main office, excess refunds to contractors resulted in a negative deposit balance of ₹45 lakh, and remittances of ₹15 lakh had remained unacknowledged since 2017.
Final bills for nine projects completed in 2024-25, worth over ₹1.7 crore were still pending finalisation despite expenditure of ₹1.5 crore. Audit liabilities relating to 19 works from 2016-17 and 33 from 2019-20 also remained unresolved. Three condemned government vehicles, aged up to 36 years, had yet to be scrapped.
Staff shortage
The division is functioning at just 60% of the sanctioned strength with vacancies spanning technical and field positions, including sub-divisional engineers, draftsmen, plumbers, fitters, drivers and work inspectors. During a test check of the records for the years 2023-24 and 2024-25, it was noticed that the regular sanctioned strength of employees in the division is 113, the number of employees working in this office is 43, and 70 posts are vacant.
