CAG audit flags procurement, payment and documentation lapses across several Assam departments

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged multiple financial irregularities across several Assam government departments. The audit findings are part of Report No. 3 of 2026 for the social, economic and general sectors, covering the year ended March 2024. The CAG said the irregularities span procurement lapses, undue payments to contractors, wasteful expenditure and gaps in beneficiary verification, and together involve more than Rs 56 crore.

The audit covered compliance with financial rules, tender procedures and project execution across departments such as 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 repeated weaknesses in project planning, tender evaluation, contract management, procurement oversight and internal financial controls.

Tribal Affairs (Plain) faces major gaps in welfare scheme delivery

One of the most significant observations is in the Directorate of Tribal Affairs (Plain). The CAG said the department incurred avoidable expenditure of more than Rs 28 crore while implementing welfare schemes that included distribution of pressure cookers, LPG gas stoves and battery-operated sprayers. The audit points out that items were procured at prices higher than the notified Maximum Retail Price (MRP), leading to avoidable excess expenditure of Rs 11.49 crore.

Beyond procurement pricing, the CAG also reported problems in the distribution and payment process. It said payments amounting to Rs 9.92 crore were released to suppliers without verifying that intended beneficiaries had actually received the goods. The report further notes that acknowledgements for welfare items worth Rs 6.58 crore were not obtained, leaving the distribution of these items without independent documentary proof.

Procurement and project execution issues noted in other departments

In the Water Resources Department, the CAG said a Departmental Tender Committee awarded contracts using a manually prepared comparative statement instead of the system-generated statement required under e-procurement. The auditors linked this deviation to undue payments of Rs 30.70 lakh to contractors, stating that awarded rates were higher than those reflected in system-generated bids.

The audit also cited issues in the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, where the District Commissioner of Kamrup Metropolitan allowed an unjustified period of 365 days rather than the admissible 64 days in calculating additional compensation for acquired land. The CAG said this led to excess payment of Rs 94.26 lakh to a landowner. In the Public Works Department, irregularities included consultancy award-related additional burden for a Swahid Smarak Khetra project, use of altered item rates instead of the successful bidder’s quoted rates, and failure to revise contract value after changes in project estimates, which the auditors said resulted in undue financial benefits.