Departmental records and JPV report as it appears in the CAG report for the year ending March 31, 2023. (Source: CAG)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 6
In a report tabled in the Nagaland State Legislature on March 26, 2026, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has disclosed serious financial irregularities in the state’s Public Works Department (Roads & Bridges). It revealed that an Executive Engineer in Phek Division made an irregular payment of Rs 5.86 crore for short-executed works based on fictitious entries in Measurement Books and Running Account bills.
The report pertains to the “Upgradation of road from Satheri to Chepokita under Phek District (22 km)” project, approved by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in February 2014 at a cost of Rs 21.70 crore under the Central Road Fund (CRF).
According to the CAG, the Government of India released the entire amount in 11 instalments between March 2015 and June 2022, followed by the state government releasing matching funds in 12 instalments up to October 2022. The contract was awarded to M/s Vertex Construction, Dimapur, in August 2014 for Rs 20.46 crore, later revised to Rs 21.69 crore in April 2022. Though the work was to be completed by July 2016, it was finally completed in April 2022 — a delay of six years.
A joint physical verification conducted by Audit along with department officials in May 2023 revealed that 15 items of work valued at Rs 5.86 crore were short-executed. Despite this, the contractor was paid the full revised amount of Rs 21.69 crore across 11 Running Account bills.
The CAG observed that the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) recorded in the Measurement Books (MBs) that the works were executed, violating Paragraph 341 of the NPWD Code, which requires scrutiny of all entries before bill preparation. Further, the Executive Engineer (EE) approved these fictitious measurements, marking a clear lapse in monitoring as mandated under Paragraph 101 of the NPWD Code.
“The excess payment of Rs 5.86 crore was, therefore, made to the contractor based on presentation of false bills and fictitious measurements in the MBs by the SDO and the EE of the PWD (Roads & Bridges), Phek, Division in violation of the provisions of the NPWD Code,” the report stated. It also noted that incorrect Utilisation Certificates were submitted to MoRTH to claim funds in excess of actual expenditure.
Responding to the findings in August 2023, the department accepted the facts, stating that the contractor had carried out additional widening of earthwork up to 11 km outside the approved Detailed Project Report. However, the CAG noted that the EE and SDO “did not exercise due care” over the contractor’s claims and certified the short-executed works as completed.
The CAG has recommended that the state government fix responsibility on the SDO and EE for false entries and release of payment without actual execution of work and initiate action against the contractor for claiming false bills without execution of works and take steps to recover the excess amount paid to the contractor.
