CAG recommends winding up of loss making PSUS in state

Bihar Economy

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), in its report on the working of 27 functional public sector undertakings (PSUS) in the state, has raised audit objections on financial transactions worth Rs 370 crore for the 2016-17 fiscal.
The central audit body has also recommended to the state government that it review the functioning of all loss making PSUS and initiate/expedite the process of winding up of nonworking PSUS to avoid drain on the public exchequer.
Only 18 of the 74 PSUS have finalised their accounts in the last three years. Out of them, only 10 PSUS have been able to earn profit of Rs 278 crore while seven PSUS incurred a loss of Rs 1437 crore.

Cabinet clears norms for sick PSUs:

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the revised guidelines of the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) on the time bound closure of sick or loss-making Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and the disposal of movable and immovable assets.
According to the new guidelines, the surplus land obtained from the closure of such companies would prioritised to provide affordable housing.
The guidelines give first priority for the utilisation of land of CPSEs under closure for affordable housing as per the relevant guidelines of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
These guidelines provide a broad framework for the expeditious completion of various processes and procedures for the closure of CPSEs by laying down important milestones in the closure process along with timelines, outlining the responsibilities of the concerned Ministries, Departments or CPSE.

CAG:

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is an authority, established by Article 148 of the Constitution of India, which audits all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the state governments, including those of bodies and authorities substantially financed by the government.
The CAG is also the external auditor of Government-owned corporations and conducts supplementary audit of government companies, i.e., any non-banking/ non-insurance company in which Union Government has an equity share of at least 51 per cent or subsidiary companies of existing government companies.
The reports of the CAG are taken into consideration by the Public Accounts Committees (PACs) and Committees on Public Undertakings (COPUs), which are special committees in the Parliament of India and the state legislatures.
The CAG is also the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, the affairs of which are managed by officers of Indian Audit and Accounts Service, and has over 58,000 employees across the country.