CHAPTER 11
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS

11.1    Unfruitful expenditure on construction of staff quarters

Due to inaccurate assessment of requirement of quarters, 72 of 80 staff quarters constructed at Arid Forest Research Institute remained vacant since its construction in 1997. As a result, Rs 3.33 crore incurred on its construction remained unproductive.

Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun accorded administrative approval and expenditure sanction in December 1993 for the construction of 40 staff quarters at the cost of Rs 176.67 lakh and in December 1994 for the construction of 40 more quarters at the cost of Rs 120.50 lakh at Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI), Jodhpur under World Bank Project.

AFRI, Jodhpur decided to construct 80 quarters at new Campus, where it already had 99 staff quarters at its main campus, of which 24 were not occupied. The construction of the 80 quarters was completed in 1997 at the cost of Rs 3.33 crore. Of these 80 quarters, 72 quarters were not occupied till August 2001.

The Board of Governors of ICFRE in June 2001, approved a proposal to rent out surplus residential accommodation at new Campus of AFRI to other Central Government Departments/Organisations for their employees on suitable terms and conditions. The Director of AFRI was to finalise the terms and conditions after consultation with legal advisors. The terms and conditions were not finalized till August 2001 and a total of 96 quarters were still lying unoccupied.

The ICFRE, Dehradun stated in September 2001 that the Institute was in its initial stage and that the 80 additional quarters were constructed to accommodate all the staff members who were likely to be allotted in the near future. The contention of ICFRE was not acceptable as against the total sanctioned strength, only 113 posts were filled up by August 2001. The remaining 66 vacant posts were mainly in group ‘C’ and ‘D’ categories, which cannot be filled due to ban on recruitment etc. Ministry of Environment and Forests endorsed the reply of the ICFRE (November 2001).

In summary, due to deficient planning and inaccurate assessment, 80 staff quarters were constructed without any need, with the result an expenditure of Rs 3.33 crore incurred on these 80 quarters remained unproductive.