CAG report alleges irregularities in Bengal Amphan relief
A compliance audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on post-Cyclone Amphan relief and restoration works was tabled in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly
The audit found the state's damage assessment submitted to seek central assistance was exaggerated and not backed by adequate evidence of actual losses
It identified deficiencies in beneficiary selection and an absence of adequate checks before Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), resulting in payments made multiple times to thousands of beneficiaries
In one instance flagged, horticulture assistance was disbursed using a beneficiary list originally prepared for an earlier cyclone rather than for Amphan-affected persons
The report was among a batch of 28 long-pending CAG reports tabled in the Assembly after a four-year gap
Constitutional Basis of the CAG's Audit Function (Articles 148–151)
The Comptroller and Auditor General is an independent constitutional authority created under Article 148, tasked with auditing the accounts of the Union and every state. Its audit reports, such as the one on Amphan relief, derive their legal force directly from this constitutional mandate rather than any executive order, which is why state governments are constitutionally obligated to place them before the legislature.
Key Details
- Article 148 provides for appointment of the CAG by the President, removable only like a Supreme Court judge, safeguarding independence from the executive
- Article 149 empowers Parliament to prescribe the CAG's duties and powers regarding Union and state accounts — done through the CAG's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971
- Article 150 lets the President, on CAG's advice, prescribe the form of government accounts
- Article 151 mandates that CAG reports relating to a state's accounts be submitted to the Governor, who must cause them to be laid before the state legislature
- The 1971 Act fixes the CAG's term at six years or up to age 65, whichever is earlier, and bars further government office after demitting the post
The Amphan relief audit is a compliance audit conducted under this constitutional framework; its tabling in the Assembly — even after a reported multi-year delay — is itself a constitutionally mandated step under Article 151.
National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and the Financial Architecture of Disaster Relief
Central assistance for a disaster of "severe nature," such as a cyclone, is drawn from the National Disaster Response Fund, a statutory fund distinct from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) that states draw on for routine, notified disasters.
Key Details
- The NDRF is constituted under Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and is funded entirely by the Centre, held in the Public Account outside the vote of Parliament
- The SDRF is constituted under Section 48(1)(a) of the same Act, funded by the Centre and states typically in a 75:25 ratio (90:10 for northeastern and Himalayan states)
- NDRF assistance supplements the SDRF only when the SDRF is inadequate for a disaster classified as "severe"
- Central assistance is released based on an assessment by an Inter-Ministerial Central Team that visits the affected state, which is then examined by a Sub-Committee of the National Executive Committee before recommending the final amount
The audit's finding that the state's damage assessment for central assistance was inflated goes directly to this assessment mechanism — the gap between what was claimed and what was ultimately recommended is a live illustration of how the Centre-state financial process for disaster relief is meant to be checked.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and Beneficiary Verification Safeguards
DBT is the mechanism for transferring welfare and relief benefits directly into beneficiaries' bank accounts, typically linked to Aadhaar, to reduce leakages and duplication compared to cash or in-kind disbursal. Its integrity depends entirely on the accuracy of the underlying beneficiary database — a control point the audit found wanting.
Key Details
- DBT was formally launched as a Mission in January 2013 and scaled up significantly after Aadhaar seeding of bank accounts under the JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity
- Standard DBT safeguards include de-duplication of beneficiary lists, Aadhaar-based authentication, and cross-verification against other welfare databases to prevent multiple payments to the same person
- The audit attributed the multiple-payment lapses to deficiencies in beneficiary selection and the absence of adequate pre-transfer checks and balances
The irregularities flagged — including relief paid multiple times to the same beneficiaries and use of a list prepared for a different cyclone — represent precisely the de-duplication and verification failures that DBT's design is intended to prevent.
- Cyclone Amphan struck the eastern coast (West Bengal and Odisha) in May 2020, among the strongest cyclones recorded in the Bay of Bengal in decades
- CAG's constitutional basis: Articles 148 (appointment), 149 (duties and powers), 150 (form of accounts), 151 (submission of reports)
- CAG (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 fixes a six-year term or age 65, whichever is earlier
- National Disaster Response Fund: constituted under Section 46, Disaster Management Act, 2005; funded wholly by the Centre
- State Disaster Response Fund: constituted under Section 48(1)(a); Centre-state funding ratio 75:25 (90:10 for NE/Himalayan states)
- The Amphan relief report was among 28 pending CAG reports tabled together after a four-year gap