“It has come to light that, of late, there are some instances where the factual information provided to the centre is wrong in material respects even though certified by competent officers of the state governments, in a manner indicating either falsification or gross negligence.”
The above was said by IAS officer T V Somanathan, Finance Secretary last month. He was indicating about wasteful expenditure in welfare and subsidy schemes. He wrote to states warning that action will be taken against All India Service officers if they furnish wrong information to the Finance Ministry regarding Centrally Sponsored Schemes.
The letter was sent to all Chief Secretaries of states and union territories and marked to state finance secretaries as well. It said that there was a case where wrong information led to heavy-borrowing by an un-named state during the tenure of one government which led to deduction of the amount when the next government came in.
Somanathan reminded his counterparts in states that as per the All India Services Conduct Rules 3(2B) and 3(3), civil servants are responsible to tender proper and factual advice and are required to sign certificates and provide information in a truthful and correct manner.
The finance ministry has been seeking to clean up the schemes and ensure that states maintain fiscal discipline. Besides, it is reviewing centrally sponsored schemes to weed out those that have outlived their utility.
Somananthan has highlighted an instance where “wrong information” resulted in the state to undertake “heavy over-borrowing” during the tenure of one government and deduction during the next government’s tenure, “causing difficulties”.
