CAG Audit Report Flags Serious Financial Irregularities in West Bengal Government’s Cyclone Relief Drive in 2020

SERIOUS IRREGULARITIES HAVE BEEN FLAGGED by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the West Bengal government’s post-cyclone Amphan relief drive in 2020, highlighting the inflated and exaggerated damage assessments, and the usage of a beneficiary list from an earlier cyclone relief.  

In the year 2020, the Cyclone named ‘Amphan’ hit West Bengal, causing serious damage to the coastal Sunderbans and other regions in the southern part of the state. Reports by the government accounted for a death of 72 people, while impacting the livelihoods of approximately 44.8 lakh people in the state. The times were tough, and the scale of harm was greatly bolstered by an ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

See Also: Samay Raina Joins Assam Flood Relief Efforts, Donates ₹10 Lakh to CM Relief Fund

Based on this, the then state government under the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), led by Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee, prepared a draft report seeking Rs 35,018 crore from the Central government’s National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). And it was this relief drive that has been flagged by the recent CAG report, showing huge irregularities.

The Amphan Disaster and the Subsequent Relief Drive

 The Super Cyclone storm Amphan hit West Bengal on May 20, 2020, near the sunderban region in West Bengal. Unlike the usual periodic cyclones that have been ravaging the lives of the Sunderban residents for a long time, the Amphan was the first super cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal since 1999. The super cyclone storm Amphan made landfall on May 20, 2020 in almost 16 districts of West Bengal, claiming the lives of 72 people, and a devastated populace of 44.8 lakh. Things worsened further with the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions constraining the emergency relief and evacuation efforts. 

Upon measuring the scale of the disaster and lives impacted, the then state government had demanded Rs 35,018 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), to which the Centre provided a sum of Rs 2,707.77 crore, adjusting to the 50% balance available in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). The Centre also released a sum of Rs 1000 crore to help the state meet its immediate needs for countering the post-cyclone disaster. The disbursal of the Central assistance had also become a major point of contention, with the state administration saying that it was, “too little, too late”, according to a report from the Telegraph published on November, 14, 2020.

CAG Report Highlights Serious Irregularities in the State Government’s Relief drive

What the CAG audit report tabled in the Assembly on July 25, 2026 states, is far more alarming than debates on potential centre-state conflicts. The report states that the damage assessment which was prepared by the Disaster Management and Civil Defence Department of the State, could not be verified because of the lack of any district-wise assessment reports. Adding to this lack of verifiable data, the CAG report also mentioned the ‘exaggerated and unrealistically high’ damage assessments which could not be supported by the appropriate evidence of losses. 

See Also: CAG Flags Rs 3,415 Crore Excess Spending in Maharashtra's Ladki Bahin Yojana, Finds Major Financial Irregularities

Following suit, the report further went on to flag the irregularities regarding the grants for house-building. According to the report, every household with full or partial damages received a sum of Rs 20,000 each till June 2020. However, post-June 2020, while the fully damaged houses continued to receive the sum of Rs 20,000, the partially damaged houses were granted Rs 25,000 each, with no verifiable record or data, that justifies the reason behind these unusual revision rates. 

Things get even murkier from here. The CAG report has also found that there were a number of beneficiary bank accounts which received the house-construction grants more than once. A list of 9,226 beneficiary bank accounts have been identified, which has reportedly witnessed a transaction of Rs 18.07 crore. Highlighting these irregularities, CAG flagged the serious deficiencies in the selection process of beneficiaries, and the lack of adequate checks and balances to counter multiple payments through the Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT).

Alongside the instances of multiple payments, the audit also identified a mismatch between the bank account numbers of the prepared beneficiary list and the final bank transactions in the fund relief drive for the districts of Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Nadia and South 24 Parganas respectively. A total amount of Rs 125.07 crore involving 1,44,175 transactions were found connected to this discrepancy, raising serious alarms on the government’s transparency in disbursing the funds.

Additionally, the report also highlights the usage of a beneficiary list prepared for the Cyclone Bulbul—which took place in 2019—to disburse the horticulture assistance fund of Rs 2.82 crore. 

See Also: Men, Govt Staff Among Beneficiaries for Maharashtra's Ladki Bahin Yojana; 92 Lakh Women Removed After CAG Flags Excess Spending

Emergency disaster reliefs are the ‘lender of the last resort’ for individuals who are periodically impacted by such adverse events. The case of the residents in the southern part of West Bengal, particularly in the Sunderban coastal regions, is much worse. Their lives are, to a large extent, associated with these relief drives, due to the lack of any sustainable measure capable enough to counter the devastating impacts of such periodic cyclones. It has been a longstanding demand of the people in this region to strengthen the mangroves and the dams to prevent the scale of adversity. 

In this deplorable situation, where certain lives are completely dependent on the relief funds—alongside tensions of the ongoing pandemic—an audit report highlighting the cases of financial and administrative irregularity, asks a simple question: What happens to the ‘integrity and accountability’ principle enshrined in our constitution when such cases of irregularities of the government come to the fore?  

Suggested Reading: