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Lucknow: A damning report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has exposed serious financial irregularities and procedural violations in Uttar Pradesh, from solid waste management to road construction, during the Yogi Adityanath government’s first term. Despite Budgets being approved, funds were often released late, causing losses running into crores and depriving the public of the full benefits of flagship schemes. The CAG’s findings, tabled in the Assembly on August 12 by Finance Minister Suresh Khanna, cover the financial years 2016–17 to 2021–22. The audit reveals that the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) failed to deliver on its promise, farmers were denied full irrigation benefits from the Saryu Canal Project, and civic bodies ignored rules while awarding contracts, allowing private firms to reap undue gains.
In the case of solid waste management, neither the state government released adequate funds nor did urban local bodies show urgency. Nearly half the sanctioned posts for sanitation inspectors, supervisors, and workers lay vacant across municipalities. Of the 45 urban local bodies audited between April 2016 and March 2022, only three had prepared solid waste management plans, and just 12 had framed bylaws. Even these lacked uniformity. Data on waste generation was found to be duplicated, raising questions about its reliability. No guidelines were issued for the registration of waste pickers, and in 35 municipalities, shortages in sanitation staff were met through outsourcing.
Administrative lapses were glaring. In 2020–21, Uttar Pradesh generated 1,030 tonnes of plastic waste daily, but had the capacity to process only 722.5 tonnes. Between 2016 and 2021, the state pollution control board did not receive a single application to set up construction and demolition waste processing facilities. Key posts, including 16 per cent of sanitation and food inspectors, 50 per cent of chief sanitation inspectors, and 42 per cent of supervisors, remained unfilled.