SRINAGAR, October 9, 2026 – The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has exposed significant administrative and technical lapses in the execution of NABARD-funded road projects across Jammu and Kashmir. The latest audit report flagged severe shortcomings in project planning and technical documentation, revealing that 45 major road works were taken up without the requisite Master Plans in place.
A major highlight of the CAG report is the glaring deficiency in project documentation. Out of 310 sampled Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) examined by the auditors, a staggering 300 (approximately 97 percent) lacked the mandatory GIS-based location maps. Furthermore, DPRs for 38 out of 348 sampled projects were entirely missing from the official records. The auditors also observed that many of the available reports lacked reliable data required for accurately calculating the crucial Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) of the road projects.
The CAG strongly criticized the commencement of projects without securing prior mandatory clearances, particularly concerning environmental norms. Citing a specific instance in Udhampur district, the audit noted that the ₹4.20-crore Lali Dabbar-Tote Phase-3 road project was sanctioned and subsequently allotted in November 2022, even though the mandatory forest clearance for its preceding phase (Phase-2) was still pending.
Financial mismanagement and low expenditure were other critical areas of concern flagged in the report. Over a five-year period spanning from 2018-19 to 2022-23, the audit found that only ₹974.74 crore was utilized against the total NABARD release of ₹1,974.98 crore. In 21 of the 24 sampled divisions, fund utilization fell below 50 percent in certain years, fluctuating anywhere from a dismal 1 percent to 49 percent.
Additionally, the audit uncovered instances of fund diversion amounting to ₹3.09 crore. Responding to the diversion anomaly, the concerned department defended its position by stating that these were “legacy issues” from previous years when system-based financial controls were not fully operational. Officials assured that the recent introduction of robust digital platforms like BEAMS, JKPaySys, Treasury Net, and JKPWDOMS has now made such financial diversions technically impossible.
Published by True Roots Media Network