Nagaland govt incorrectly used funds belonging to employees: CAG

Kohima: A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) for the year ended March 31, 2018 said the state government has “incorrectly used the funds that belong to its employees” under the National Pension Scheme (NPS).

State government employees appointed on or after January 1, 2010, are covered under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) which is a Defined Contributory Pension Scheme.

Under NPS, employees contribute 10% of their basic pay plus Dearness Allowance and the state government must match the contribution.

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The CAG report presented in the recently-concluded state Assembly showed that the state government collected Rs 86.74 crore from its employees as a contribution to the National Pension Scheme (NPS).

The government contributed only Rs 58.17 Crore as Government’s share towards the scheme. “Thus, Government did not discharge its statutory liability as it failed to contribute Rs 28.57 crore as Government’s matching share under NPS,” the CAG stated.

The CAG informed that against the total collected funds of Rs 144.91 crore, the government transferred Rs 111.47 crore only to the designated authority–National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and did not transfer Rs 33.44 crore to NSDL for further investment as per the provisions of the scheme.

This means there was a short transfer of Rs 62.01 crore (Rs 33.44 crore not transferred + Rs 28.57 crore short contribution) to the NSDL and the current liability stands deferred to future years. “Further, the State Government has created interest liability on the amount not transferred to NSDL, incorrectly used the funds that belong to its employees and created uncertainty in respect of benefits due to the employees affected/avoidable financial liability to Government in future, thus leading to possible failure of the scheme itself,” the CAG said.