Srinagar, April 6: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged that excess expenditure of over Rs 1.24 lakh crore incurred by the Jammu & Kashmir government over four decades since 1980 remains pending for legislative approval and regularisation, raising serious concerns over financial discipline and public resource management.
In its report on the Union Territory’s finances for the year ended March 2024, the CAG noted that excess spending amounting to Rs 1,24,004.41 crore incurred between 1980-81 and 2019-20 has not yet been regularised by the legislature.
As per financial norms, any expenditure exceeding the budgeted allocation requires approval from the legislative assembly through regularisation. However, the report pointed out that appropriation accounts from 1980-81 onwards were not examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), leading to prolonged delays in scrutiny and approval.
“As the appropriation accounts of 1980-81 onwards had not been discussed in the Public Accounts Committee, the excess expenditure aggregating to Rs 1,24,004.41 crore… is yet to be regularised,” the report stated.
The CAG cautioned that such prolonged non-regularisation undermines the system of budgetary and financial control and encourages financial indiscipline in the management of public resources.
The report further revealed that the excess expenditure was incurred across 543 grants and appropriations between 1980 and 2019, with significant overruns recorded during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Notably, excess spending stood at Rs 12,954.06 crore in 2005-06 and Rs 9,770.53 crore in 2003-04.
Even in the period immediately preceding the reorganisation of the erstwhile state, excess expenditure continued, with Rs 5,311.53 crore recorded for 2019-20 (April 1 to October 30, 2019).
Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh were reorganised into separate Union Territories in October 2019.
Responding to the audit observations, the Finance Department of the Jammu & Kashmir government stated in February 2025 that the excess expenditure is a “legacy issue” and would be regularised by the legislature.
The CAG reiterated that delays in legislative scrutiny spanning decades weaken accountability mechanisms and compromise fiscal discipline in governance.
