CAG to audit NRHM spendings by states after UP scam: govt

The government today announced that the Comptroller and Auditor General would audit fund allocations under the National Rural Health Mission in the wake of the multi-crore scam in Uttar Pradesh.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told the Lok Sabha that the Centre had asked the CAG to audit the funds allocated under NRHM after irregularities found in UP and other states.

"The CAG has agreed to... it will audit future allocations and let us see if it can audit past records too," he said, in reply to a discussion on Demand for Grants for the Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

Azad also announced that the NRHM scheme started seven years ago would continue for the next five years following an approval by the Union Cabinet last night.

Referring to the scam, he said the magnitude of irregularities in UP was "according to its size" and similar irregularities have been reported from other states also.

Asserting that government will take stringent measures to check the problem, Azad said state governments as well as officials will have to account for each paisa spent under the scheme.

The CAG does not audit funds spent by states under NRHM, but it has been done in the case of UP following the scam.

The minister said measures like statutory audit, model accounting handbook, and e-banking have been adopted during the last two years to streamline the system.

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