Fertilizer purchased at inflated prices ; 40,855 HIV+ cases in Manipur
Source: The Sangai Express / Press Trust of India

Imphal, July 19 2014 : The overall detection of HIV positive cases in Manipur rose from 25,919 in March 2007 to 40,855 in March 2012, indica-ting the serious magnitude in the State, according to a copy of the CAG report.

This was in spite of incurring an expenditure of Rs 43.39 crore for implementation of Targeted Intervention (TI) programme, thereby reflecting poor performance and unsatisfactory results in halting new infections in High- Risk groups, said the report which was placed in Manipur Legislative Assembly last evening.

The report which gave details about the problems said a doubt had arisen as to whether scaled up interventions were effectively undertaken in respect of the general population as required under National AIDS Control Programme-III (NACP-III) .

Due to failure in tracking the number of patients who had expired due to infection of HIV and Tuberculosis, the overall goal in reducing the TB related morbidity in people living with HIV and AIDS remained unascertainable, the report for the year ending 31 March 2013 mentioned, adding the expenditure of Rs 3.25 crore for this could not be said fruitful.

The report said the performance of Manipur in sports was commendable but against the total drawal of Rs 122.33 crore, only Rs 103.87 crore was reflected in the cash book of Directorate of Youth Affairs and Sports, leading to the short-account of Rs 18.46 crore.

In nine sampled field offices, Rs 14.98 crore was not accounted in their cash books with possibility of misappropriation of the funds, the report said.

In State agriculture department, a bag of fertiliser was to be purchased at Rs 420 per bag as per rules of Fertilizer Control Order 1985, but it was purchased at Rs 1,760 per bag from two dealers identified as M/s Th Jeet Singh and M/s Farmer Development Society during 2011-2012 resulting in avoidable extra expenditure of Rs 96.28 lakhs, the report said.

Manipur's main economy is based on agricultural products.

The report gave complete details of all the state government departments showing poor performances and financial mismanagement and misappropriation.

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