The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has flagged serious lapses in the implementation of key housing and welfare schemes in Chhattisgarh, pointing to ineligible beneficiaries, blocked funds, weak monitoring mechanisms and avoidable financial losses. These findings are contained in the Audit Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Performance and Compliance Audit (Civil) for the period ended March 2023, which was presented to the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly on December 17, 2025 under Article 151 of the Constitution of India.

The Report, numbered 06 of 2025, provides a comprehensive assessment of expenditure and scheme implementation across the General, Social and Economic Sectors. It includes a performance audit of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Urban, compliance audits of labour welfare schemes, a detailed audit of solar pump installations by the Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency, and a compliance audit of the Public Works Department.

In its performance audit of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Urban, a flagship housing mission of the Government of India launched in June 2015 and implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the Comptroller and Auditor General identified significant deviations from prescribed norms. The scheme aims to provide affordable housing to slum dwellers and beneficiaries belonging to Economically Weaker Sections, Low Income Groups and Middle Income Groups through four verticals: Affordable Housing in Partnership, Beneficiary Led Construction, In Situ Slum Redevelopment and the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme.

Audit scrutiny in four Urban Local Bodies—Municipal Corporations of Bilaspur, Raipur and Korba, and the Municipal Panchayat of Premnagar—revealed that 71 beneficiaries with annual incomes exceeding ₹3 lakh were selected and allotted houses under the Beneficiary Led Construction and Affordable Housing in Partnership verticals. Further, financial assistance amounting to ₹4.05 crore was released to 250 beneficiaries without ensuring ownership of land in their names.

The audit also found that due to non-linkage of the Management Information Systems of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Urban and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Gramin, 99 beneficiaries availed benefits under both schemes. In addition, 35 beneficiaries who had already received benefits under the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme again availed assistance under the Beneficiary Led Construction vertical.

Delays in completion of dwelling units under Affordable Housing in Partnership projects led to blocking of scheme funds amounting to ₹230.05 crore. Against recoveries due from slum dwellers, Urban Local Bodies could recover only ₹22.13 crore, while ₹17.23 crore remained unrecovered as of March 2025. Of the total 2.77 lakh houses sanctioned under the Beneficiary Led Construction vertical, 66,383 houses were surrendered or curtailed. Of the remaining 2.11 lakh houses, only 1.84 lakh were completed as of April 2025.

Under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme, against 2.49 lakh subsidy claims submitted by beneficiaries, only 37,374 claims were approved, with subsidies amounting to ₹820.93 crore released during 2016–17 to 2022–23. The audit also noted 29 cases where beneficiaries availed double benefits under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme as well as other housing verticals.

Despite the scheme’s emphasis on women’s empowerment through property ownership, only 50 per cent of houses were sanctioned in the name of female beneficiaries during 2016–17 to 2023–24, falling short of stated objectives. Lapses were also observed in monitoring, including incorrect geo-tagging of houses, use of mismatched photographs and delays in social audits due to late appointment of independent facilitation agencies.

In its compliance audit of welfare schemes implemented by the Labour Department, the Comptroller and Auditor General reported underutilisation of funds and weak outreach. Of the ₹329.41 crore allotted to the Chhattisgarh Asangathit Karmkaar Rajya Samajik Suraksha Mandal for unorganised sector workers, only 64 per cent was spent. Similarly, only ₹21.27 crore out of ₹44.86 crore available was utilised by the Chhattisgarh Shram Kalyan Mandal for organised sector workers.

While 76.33 lakh workers from Chhattisgarh were registered on the Government of India’s e-Shram portal, only 22 per cent were registered on the State labour portal. In the organised sector, only 26 per cent of the targeted workforce was registered, indicating ineffective Information, Education and Communication efforts. The audit further found that in 10 out of 50 welfare schemes, no expenditure was incurred during the audit period, while coverage under several schemes remained limited.

The audit of solar pump installations revealed that the Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency permitted the installation of costlier direct current solar pumps instead of alternating current pumps, contrary to scheme guidelines, resulting in avoidable expenditure. More than 90,000 solar pumps were installed without mandatory yield testing, and inappropriate selection of pumps led to an additional cost of ₹9.70 crore. Failure to deduct labour cess from contractors’ bills was also noted.

In a compliance audit of the Public Works Department, the Comptroller and Auditor General reported a loss of ₹2.02 crore due to misclassification of hard rock as ordinary rock and excess payment of ₹1.19 crore to contractors.

The Report underscores the need for stricter beneficiary verification, improved monitoring, timely completion of projects and stronger financial discipline to ensure effective utilisation of public funds and achievement of scheme objectives.

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RDJ

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