CAG Report Flags Irregularities in Cyclone Amphan Relief Distribution in West Bengal
A newly released audit report today reveals duplicate transactions, politically influenced grants, and misclassified housing damage in the distribution of Cyclone Amphan relief funds.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has flagged anomalies in the distribution of Cyclone Amphan relief funds under the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, alleging that records were manipulated to benefit party loyalists. The findings point to irregularities in how assistance was allocated following the 2020 cyclone, raising questions about the transparency of the relief process.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has flagged widespread irregularities in the distribution of Cyclone Amphan relief funds in West Bengal, alleging that records were manipulated to extend house-building grants to ineligible beneficiaries, including political loyalists. The audit report, tabled recently, examined the Trinamool Congress government’s handling of the 2020 cyclone aftermath across six districts, covering 19.38 lakh beneficiaries (Indian Express).
Using data analytics tools, the CAG identified duplicate transactions worth Rs 18.07 crore credited into the bank accounts of 9,226 beneficiaries through 18,891 transactions. In some instances, grants were deposited up to nine times for a single beneficiary. The auditor noted that no mechanism existed to prevent such duplicate payments (Indian Express).
The investigation also scrutinised 31,457 photographs submitted as evidence of housing damage. In 3,126 cases, identical photographs were uploaded against the names of multiple beneficiaries, suggesting undue grants were sanctioned. However, the exact financial impact could not be quantified because the photographs were not linked to beneficiary application forms (Indian Express).
The report highlights a breakdown in verification protocols. Grants were frequently sanctioned based on the recommendations of local political leaders without mandatory field inspections, and the reports of local inquiry committees were ignored. In South 24 Parganas, Rs 22.84 crore was disbursed in the Magrahat-I block and Maheshtala Municipality based on single-page applications lacking Aadhaar or voter identity details, bank passbooks, inspection reports, or photographs of damaged houses (Indian Express).
Financial management lapses compounded the procedural failures. The districts of North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas withdrew Rs 1,383.23 crore — nearly 71% of the total house-building grant of Rs 1,948.51 crore — from the treasury and parked the funds in commercial bank accounts before making direct benefit transfers. The CAG termed this “highly irregular” under the West Bengal Treasury Rules (Indian Express).
The findings corroborate earlier ground reporting by The Indian Express, which documented cases where relatives of politically powerful members of Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis, and Zilla Parishads received compensation despite suffering no damage. While many beneficiaries were affiliated with the ruling TMC, the 2020 reporting also identified cases involving the BJP and the CPI(M) (Indian Express).
The audit further questioned the classification of damaged houses, noting evidence that partially damaged structures were categorised as fully destroyed to inflate payouts. The CAG concluded that the state government’s damage estimates were “not supported by proper evidence” (Indian Express).
Indian Express