HUNDRED AND SIXTY SECOND REPORT
ON
LAYING OF
ANNUAL REPORTS & AUDITED ACCOUNTS
OF
COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC & INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH (CSIR)
(Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 27th July, 2021)
PARLIAMENT OF INDIA
RAJYA SABHA
COMMITTEE ON
PAPERS LAID ON THE TABLE
Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi
27th
July, 2021/ Shravana 5, 1943(Saka)
REPORT NO.
162
PARLIAMENT OF INDIA
RAJYA SABHA
COMMITTEE ON PAPERS LAID
ON THE TABLE
HUNDRED AND SIXTY SECOND REPORT
ON
LAYING OF
ANNUAL REPORTS & AUDITED ACCOUNTS OF
COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC & INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH (CSIR)
(Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 27th July, 2021)
Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi
27th
July, 2021/ Shravana 5, 1943(Saka)
C O N T E N T S
Page No.
1. Composition of the Committee.................................................... (i)
2. Preface......................................................................................... (ii)
3. Acronyms.................................................................................... (iii)
4. Report of the Committee............................................................. 1-20
Introduction …………………………………………………… 1-3
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)………… 4-20
5. Summary of Observations & Recommendations........................ 21-29
6. Minutes of the Meetings of the Committee.................................. 31-35
COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE
(Constituted on 20.04.2021)
1. Shri K.C. Ramamurthy - Chairman
2. Shri Shamsher Singh Dullo
3. Shri Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar
4. Shri Shwait Malik
5. Shri Deepak Prakash
6. Shri Sanjay Raut
7. Shri G.K. Vasan
8. Shri Harnath Singh Yadav
9. Vacant
10. Vacant
SECRETARIAT
1. Shri Jagdish Kumar, Additional Secretary
2. Shri Prem Singh, Director
3. Shri Sanjeev Chandra, Additional Director
4. Smt. Subha Chandrashekar, Under Secretary
(i)
P R E F A C E
I, the Chairman of the Committee on Papers Laid on the Table, Rajya Sabha,
having been authorised by the Committee, present this 162nd
Report to the Rajya
Sabha.
2. The Committee considered the laying status of the Annual Reports and
Audited Accounts of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and
decided to seek clarifications from the administrative Ministry and representatives of
the Organisation for the same.
3. The Committee heard the representatives of the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on
the delayed laying of Annual Report / Audited Accounts of CSIR on 11th November,
2019 and thereafter an interaction was held between the senior officials of CSIR and
the Chairman in his room in Parliament House Annexe Extension on 23rd
March,
2021.
4. The Committee considered and adopted the draft Report in its meeting held on
22nd
July, 2021.
5. The Committee has made observations/recommendations on the requirements
to be fulfilled for laying the Reports on the Table of the House, time limit for laying
of papers, extension request for laying of papers, laying of Review and Delay
statements, monitoring of the papers laid on the Table of the House by the
concerned Ministries, uploading of the papers and online availability etc. The
Recommendations/Observations of the Committee are set out in bold letters at
appropriate places in the Report.
K.C. RAMAMURTHY
New Delhi ; Chairman,
27th July, 2021 Committee on Papers Laid on the Table,
Shravana 5, 1943(Saka) Rajya Sabha
(ii)
ACRONYMS
1 AA Audited Accounts
2 AR Annual Report
3 CSIR Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
4 R &D Research and Development
5 C&AG Comptroller and Auditor General of India
6 GFRs General Financial Rules
(iii)
1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 The practice of laying papers on the Table is the logical corollary of
Parliament's inherent right to information as well as enforcing executive
accountability to it. In order to enforce the accountability of Public Undertakings,
it has been made mandatory for such bodies to lay their Annual reports and
Audited accounts on the Table of the two Houses of Parliament. In certain Central
Acts, therefore, specific provisions exist for the laying of certain documents on
the Table. Neither the House by itself nor its Members by themselves is/are in a
position to give a closer scrutiny to each and every document laid on the Table. It
was in that background that the need to constitute a Committee on Papers Laid on
the Table was felt and the Committee on Rules in its second report presented to
Rajya Sabha on 22 May 1979, recommended for the constitution of the
Committee on Papers Laid on the Table. The second report was agreed to by
Rajya Sabha on 24 December 1981. The Gazette notification to that effect was
made on 15 January 1982. Rules 212 H to 212 O in the Rules of Procedure and
Conduct of Business in Rajya Sabha, relate to the constitution and functions of the
Committee on Papers laid on the Table.
COMMITTEE'S MANDATE TO REVIEW THE LAYING STATUS OF
CSIR
1.2 The Committee draws its mandate to review the laying status of the
Annual Reports and Audited Accounts of CSIR from Rule 212 H Clauses (2) and
(3) which state as follows :-
1.3 After a paper is laid before the Rajya Sabha by a Minister, the
Committee considers:
(1.3.a) whether there has been compliance with the provisions of the
Constitution or the Act of Parliament or any other law, rule or
regulation in pursuance of which the paper has been so laid;
(1.3.b) whether there has been any unreasonable delay in laying the
paper before the House and if so, (i) whether a statement
explaining the reasons for such delay has also been laid before
the House along with the paper, and (ii) whether those reasons
are satisfactory; and
(1.3.c) whether the paper has been laid before the House both in
English and Hindi and if not, (i) whether a statement explaining
the reasons for not laying the paper in Hindi has also been laid
2
before the House along with the paper, and (ii) whether those
reasons are satisfactory.
1.4 The Committee also performs such other functions in respect of the
papers laid on the Table as may be assigned to it by the Chairman from time to
time. The Committee has the power to require the evidence of persons or the
production of papers or records, if such a course is considered necessary for the
discharge of its duties.
1.5 As per the recommendations contained in Para 26 of the 1st Report of
the Committee on Papers Laid on the Table, Rajya Sabha, the Annual Report and
the Audited Accounts of the Government Companies/Organisations are required
to be laid on the Table of the House within nine months from the date of closure
of their Annual Accounts.
1.6 Rule 238 (5) of the General Financial Rules, 2017 states that in the
case of Private and Voluntary Organisations receiving recurring Grants-in-aid
from Rupees 10 lakhs to less than Rupees 50 lakh, all the Ministries or
Departments of Government of India should include in their Annual Reports a
statement showing the quantum of funds provided to each of those Organisations
and the purpose for which they were utilized, for the information of Parliament.
The Annual Reports and Accounts of Private and Voluntary Organisations
receiving recurring Grants-in-aid to the tune of Rupees 50 lakh and above should
be laid on the Table of the House within 9 months of the close of the succeeding
financial year of the Grantee Organisations. Furthermore, Rule 238(6) of the
General Financial Rules, 2017, too, mandates that in the case of organisations
receiving one-time assistance or non recurring Grants as Grants-in-aid from
Rupees ten lakhs to Rupees fifty lakhs, all Ministries or Departments of
Government of India should include in their Annual Reports, statements showing
the quantum of funds provided to each of these organisations and the purpose for
which the funds were utilized, for the information of Parliament. The Annual
Reports and Audited Accounts of Private and Voluntary Organisations or
societies registered under the Registration of Societies Act, 1860, receiving one-
time assistance/non-recurring Grants of Rupees fifty lakhs and above should also
be laid on the Table of the House, within nine months of the close of the
succeeding financial Year of the grantee Organisations.
1.7 CSIR is also mandated to lay its AR and AA by Rule 68 and 69 of
the CSIR Rules and regulation, which are reproduced below:-
Rule 68. Accounts and Audit. (i) The Society shall maintain proper accounts
and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts
including the balance sheet in such form as may be prescribed by the Central
3
Government in consultation with Comptroller & Auditor-General of India. (ii)
The accounts of the Society shall be audited annually by the Comptroller &
Auditor-General and any expenditure incurred in connection with the audit of
accounts of the Society shall be payable by the Society. (iii) The Comptroller
& Auditor-General shall have the same rights, privileges and authorities in
connection with the audit of accounts of the Society as the Comptroller &
Auditor-General has in connection with the audit of Government Accounts and
in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts,
connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the
offices of the Society.
Rule 69. Annual Report. An Annual Report of the proceedings of the Society
of all work undertaken during the Financial Year shall be prepared by the
Governing Body. A draft of the Annual Report and the yearly accounts of the
Society as certified by Comptroller and Auditor General of India together with
the Audit Report thereon, shall be placed before the Society together with the
audit report thereon for its consideration and approval. Copies of the Annual
Report and yearly accounts as approved by the Society shall be forwarded to
the Government of India who shall cause the same to be laid before the
parliament.
1.8 The Committee, thus, as part of its mandate, took up for its
consideration and examination, the case of CSIR.
4
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)
BACKGROUND
The Department and CSIR, during the course of their interaction with the
Committee, on 11th November, 2019, had provided information regarding the
genesis of CSIR, its mission and achievements, extracts from which are reproduced
in the succeeding paras from 2.1 to 2.3.
2.1. The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is a contemporary
R&D organization with a pan-India network of 38 national laboratories, 39 outreach
centres, 1 Innovation Complex and 3 units, 3460 active scientists supported by
about 4796 scientific and technical personnel.
2.2. CSIR covers a wide spectrum of science and technology – from radio and
space physics, oceanography, earth sciences, geophysics, chemicals, drugs,
genomics, biotechnology and nanotechnology to mining, materials, aeronautics,
instrumentation, environmental engineering and information technology. It provides
significant technological intervention in many areas which include inter-alia,
environment, health, drinking water, food, housing, energy, metals & minerals.
Pioneer of India‟s intellectual property movement, CSIR today is strengthening its
patent portfolio to carve out global niches for the country in select technology
domains. On an average CSIR files about 300 Indian patents and 250 foreign
patents per year. Amongst its peers in publicly funded research organisations in the
world, CSIR is a leader in terms of filing and securing patents worldwide.
2.3. CSIR‟s mission is to “build a new CSIR for a new India” and its vision is to
“Pursue science which strives for global impact, technology that enables innovation
– driven industry and nurture trans-disciplinary leadership thereby catalysing
inclusive economic development for the people of India”
LAYING STATUS OF ANNUAL REPORTS AND AUDITED ACCOUNTS
2.4. The laying status of CSIR for the years 1986-87 to 2017-18, as tabulated
from the Committee‟s database, reveals the following position: -
5
Sl.
No
Year Due Date Date of
Laying
Delay Time Record Type
Year Month Day
1
1986-87 31/12/1987 08/08/1989 1
7
7 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
2
1987-88 31/12/1988 08/01/1991 2
0
7 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
3
1988-89 31/12/1989 08/01/1991 1
0
7 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
4
1989-90 31/12/1990 05/09/1991 0
8
4 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
5
1990-91 31/12/1991 30/07/1992 0
6
29 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
6
1991-92 31/12/1992 26/08/1993 0
7
25 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
7
1992-93 31/12/1993 28/04/1994 0
3
27 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
8
1993-94 31/12/1994 22/12/1995 0
11
21 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
9
1994-95 31/12/1995 28/11/1996 0
10
27 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
10
1995-96 31/12/1996 05/06/1998 1
5
4 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
11
1996-97 31/12/1997 10/12/1999 1
11
9 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
12
1997-98 31/12/1998 10/12/1999 0
11
9 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
13
1998-99 31/12/1999 15/12/2000 0
11
14 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
6
Sl.
No
Year Due Date Date of
Laying
Delay Time Record Type
Year Month Day
14
1999-00 31/12/2000 10/05/2002 1
4
9 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
15
2000-01 31/12/2001 10/05/2002 0
4
9 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
16
2001-02 31/12/2002 09/05/2003 0
4
8 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
17
2002-03 31/12/2003 26/08/2004 0
7
25 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
18
2003-04 31/12/2004 04/08/2005 0
7
3 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
19
2004-05 31/12/2005 12/03/2007 1
2
11 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
20
2005-06 31/12/2006 17/12/2008 1
11
16 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
21
2006-07 31/12/2007 17/12/2008 0
11
16 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
22
2007-08 31/12/2008 06/05/2010 1
4
5 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
23
2008-09 31/12/2009 25/11/2010 0 10
24 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
24
2009-10 31/12/2010 08/08/2011 0 7
7 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
25
2010-11 31/12/2011 23/08/2012 0 7
22 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
26
2011-12 31/12/2012 09/12/2013 0 11
8 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
7
Sl.
No
Year Due Date Date of
Laying
Delay Time Record Type
Year Month Day
27
2012-13 31/12/2013 04/08/2016 2 7
3 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
28
2013-14 31/12/2014 04/08/2016 1 7
3 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
29
2014-15 31/12/2015 20/09/2020 4 8
19 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
30
2015-16 31/12/2016 20/09/2020 3 8
19 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
31
2016-17 31/12/2017 20/09/2020 2 8
19 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
32
2017-18 31/12/2018 20/09/2020 1 8
19 Both AR/AAs,
Review Statement
& Delay Statement
DELAY IN LAYING ANNUAL REPORT AND AUDITED ACCOUNTS
2.5. The Committee observed from the information detailed in the above table
that there had been persistent delay in laying from the initial years and throughout
the last three decades. In most years the delay was of a few months interspersed
with delays ranging from 1 ½ years to nearly 2 years. In 2014-15, however, there
was an inordinate delay of 4 years, 8 months and 20 days. The Committee noted
that CSIR had laid all the ARs/AAs for the years from 2014-15 to 2017-18
simultaneously on 20th
September, 2020. The CSIR far from being able to stem the
delay in laying, had been unable to lay its AR/AAs for four consecutive years. The
AR/AAs of 2018-19 and 2019-20 were also still to be laid. The Committee noted
however that the CSIR had always been laying its ARs and AAs together, to give a
complete and fair picture of the working of the organisation, in conformity of the
Committee‟s guidelines in Para 3.17 of the 21st Report. The Committee noted that
the Review and Delay Statements had been laid together with the Reports in all the
years in bilingual form.
8
INTERACTION WITH THE DEPARTMENT AND CSIR
2.6. The Committee, has made concerted efforts to exercise its mandate to know
the reasons for this perpetual and exponential delay in laying of the Annual Reports
and Audited Accounts of CSIR by the Ministry, and identify whether the delays
have occurred due to similar reasons over the years, and the efforts, if any, made by
the Ministry and the CSIR to check the delays. The Committee, during the course of
these efforts, has twice heard the representatives of the CSIR and the Ministry on
17th February, 1994 and 11
th November, 2019. The Committee has also presented
its 52nd
Report on CSIR, inter-alia, to the House on 3rd
August, 1994 following its
first interaction with the CSIR and the Ministry.
2.7. In the first interaction in February, 1994, the then Director-General, CSIR
had apprised the Committee as follows :-
Delay was usually caused by the time lag between the meetings of the
General Body and the CSIR Society, the latter being headed by the Hon‟ble
Prime Minister of India as President of the Society. As per CSIR Byelaws,
the Society has to necessarily meet under the Chairmanship of its President.
Any amendment to the Bye-Laws enabling holding the CSIR Society meeting
under the Chairmanship of the Vice-President, CSIR, in case the President,
CSIR was pre-occupied, could be effected only with the permission of the
Government.
A mechanism would be evolved by which the time lag between the meetings
of the General Body and CSIR Society would be abridged. The observations
of the Committee about the delay in laying reports would be brought to the
notice of the Prime Minister's Office.
2.8. In its interaction in November, 2019, the officials of the Ministry and CSIR
had reaffirmed that delay in laying was mostly caused by the necessity of taking
approval from the CSIR society and had elaborated as follows: -
CSIR is governed by two bodies, a Governing body and the CSIR Society.
The general procedure is that the Governing Body frequently reviews
everything that is happening within CSIR and the Society typically meets
once a year where all the progress aspects, Annual Report and Accounts are
placed before the Society. It is the Society which approves the Report to be
placed in the Parliament. As per Rule- 15 of the CSIR Rules & Regulations,
the CSIR Society shall: (i) review the progress and performance of CSIR; (ii)
9
give the policy direction to Governing Body; and (iii) approve the annual
report and the yearly accounts of CSIR.
The CSIR Society is chaired by the Hon. Prime Minister who is the ex-officio
President of the Society and the ex-officio Vice President of the Society is
the Minister in charge of the Ministry & Department dealing with CSIR. The
Society has about 30 odd members, including many ex-officio members,
Secretaries of many departments, Hon. Minister of Finance, Hon. Minister of
Commerce and Industry etc.
The term of the Society is 3 years after which a new Society is notified.
During the period from May, 2016- October 2019 the notification of the new
Society was delayed due to several reasons beyond the control of CSIR,
including death of a proposed member and superannuation of a few proposed
ex-officio members. However, the composition of the new Society had just
been notified on 7/11/2019 and the meeting of the new Society was expected
to be held very soon.
2.9. By oral and written submissions in the reply to questionnaire, the Department
and CSIR had apprised the Committee about the procedure involved in preparation
of AR and AA as under:
2.10. As per Rule 68 and 69 of the CSIR Rules & Regulations, “a draft of the
Annual Report and yearly accounts of the CSIR Society as certified by Comptroller
and Auditor General of India together with the Audit Report thereon shall be placed
before the Society for its consideration and approval before the same are placed on
the Table of House of the Parliament.” For Annual Reports, CSIR Laboratories
submit their inputs based on a template after a completion of a financial year. The
template covers significant achievements, activities under different Govt. Missions,
Honors & Awards, etc. These are then compiled, consolidated and then a draft
report is placed for approval of the Governing Body meeting. The complete process
takes duration of about 2-4 months.
2.11. The stages of preparation of Annual Reports are as follows:
No. Particular Duration
1 Receipt and consolidation of inputs from all the
constituent laboratories and various divisions of
2-3 months from April of
10
CSIR based on a template every financial year
2 Preparation of draft report and its finalization 1 month
3 Submission to approval by the Governing Body
of CSIR whenever it is convened
3-4 days
4. Submission of Annual Report to the Society and
its adoption and subsequent laying on the table of
the Parliament
1-2 days
2.12. The Annual Accounts of CSIR are audited and certified by C&AG under
Section 20(1) of the Comptroller & Auditor General‟s (Duties, Powers &
Conditions of Service) Act 1971 read with Rule 68 of Rules and Regulations & Bye
Laws of CSIR.
2.13. The stages of approval required before the Annual Accounts are finalized and
the time taken at each level is as per Rule 237 of GFR 2017 -Time Schedule for
submission of Annual Accounts as given below: -
No. Particular Target dates
1 Approved and authenticated annual accounts to be
made available by the autonomous bodies to the
concerned Audit Office and commencement of
audit of annual accounts
30th June
2 Issue of the final SAR in English version with audit
certificate to Autonomous Bodies/Govt. concerned
31st October
3 Submission of Audited Accounts to the CSIR
Society to be laid on the table of the Parliament
31st December
11
2.14. The Committee was further informed that the CSIR Annual Accounts are
generally closed and submitted to Audit on time i.e., by 30th June of the following
year as per prescribed time schedule. No constraints are faced by CSIR to prepare
or finalize its Annual Reports/Audited Accounts. The Annual Report and Annual
Accounts for the financial years 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 had been
approved by the Governing body of CSIR in its meetings held in June, 2016,
November, 2017, December, 2018 and April, 2019 respectively but could not be
laid because they had not been approved by the CSIR Society.
2.15. Printing of Annual Reports/ Annual Accounts in CSIR is undertaken as per
need and there are no constraints related to it. CSIR also has no problem in Hindi
translation as the organisation has its Internal Hindi Cell.
2.16. The Committee was also informed that Audit paras outstanding from 1999
onwards were settled from 2014 onwards and presently no CAG paras were
outstanding as on 31st March, 2021. The reasons for the delays of about two
decades in the settlement of some of these paras were (i) delay in formulating
appropriate replies by the concerned laboratories of CSIR and its continued
improvement to the satisfaction of C&AG; (ii) In one case for compliance,
concerned laboratory was dependent upon outside agency‟s cooperation; and (iii)
Also time taken in revising guidelines/Rules to avoid recurrence of such
irregularities etc.
2.17. Since the information provided at the interaction held in November, 2019
was still unsatisfactory on some aspects, the Director-General, CSIR and two senior
officials were called for an interaction with the Chairman of the Committee on 23rd
March, 2021. Clarifications were sought from the CSIR officers mainly on the
following issues –
Whether the Society as a whole became defunct every three years or the term
of the members expired after three years.
Whether the CSIR Society could be chaired by the Vice-President in case of
absence of the President, so that delay in obtaining the approval of the
Society for the Annual Reports/Audited Accounts of CSIR could be avoided.
2.18. The officials informed that as per the Rules & Regulations and Bye-Laws of
Memorandum of Association of CSIR, 2018, only Members of the Society are re-
constituted and notified every three years. The composition of the CSIR Society
12
was notified four times during the last 15 years. However, during the period from
May, 2016 to October, 2019 there was no reconstitution of the members of the
Society. The re-constitution of the Society had got delayed due to several reasons
beyond control of CSIR including death of a proposed member and superannuation
of few proposed ex-officio members. However, the CSIR Society has now been
reconstituted and notified on 7/11/2019.
2.19. The officials also informed that in the CSIR Society Meeting held on 14th
February, 2020, the Society has approved the proposal of CSIR to convene Society
meetings in future to be chaired by the Vice President, CSIR to approve the Annual
Reports and Annual Accounts to enable CSIR to place these on the Table of
Parliament. They briefed the Chairman about the Rules & Regulations especially
Rule 9, 14, 21 and 50 which pertain to the constitution and proceedings of the
Society.
“Rule 9. Unless their membership of the Society is terminated as provided in
Rules 10 and 11 and subject to the provisions of Rule 5, all other members of the
Society shall relinquish their membership on the expiry of three years from the
date on which they became members of the Society but shall be eligible for
reappointment. If a casual vacancy arises during the three years period, the
person appointed in the vacancy shall, subject to the provisions of Rules 5, 10
and 11, hold office only for the unexpired period of that three year period.
“Rule 14. The Society shall function notwithstanding that any person who is
entitled to be a member by reason of his office is not a member of the Society for
the time being and notwithstanding any other vacancy in its body whether by
non-appoinment or otherwise and no act or proceeding of the Society shall be
invalidated merely by reason of the happening of any of the above events or of
any defect in the appoinment of any of its members.”
“Rule 21. If the President is not present at the meeting of the Society, the
Vice-President shall be chairman of the meeting. If both the President and Vice
President are not present, any member of the Governing Body appointed by the
President in writing shall be Chairman of the meeting, but if there shall be no
member appointed as aforesaid present or willing to take the chair, the members
of the Society shall choose one of the members, present to be the Chairman of
the meeting.”
“Rule 50. The President may, in writing, delegate such of his powers as may be
necessary to the Vice-President or the Director-General.”
13
OBSERVATIONS / RECOMMENDATIONS
DELAY IN LAYING OF AR/AAs
2.20. The Committee observes that ever since its first interaction with CSIR in
1994, the position of the CSIR and its controlling Ministry had always been
that as per the CSIR bye-laws, the CSIR Society had to necessarily meet under
the Chairmanship of its President and any amendment to the byelaws would
require the permission of the Government. The Ministry and the organization
had also always presented the necessity of obtaining the approval of the
President, CSIR Society as the main reason for delay in laying the AR/AAs of
CSIR. Now, it is apparent from a reading of the Bye-laws of CSIR that there is
a built-in provision for the Vice-President to be the Chairman of the
Committee if the President is absent. The Committee observes that both the
Ministry and CSIR seem to have had a casual approach to the issue and do not
appear to have examined their own bye-laws seriously or researched the
matter even after being called twice to give their evidence before the
Committee. The Committee notes that the CSIR had taken up the issue at a
meeting of the CSIR Society chaired by the Prime Minister on 14th
February,
2020 and had obtained the permission of the Society to convene Society
meetings in future to be chaired by the Vice-President of the Society. The
Committee appreciates the initiative however belatedly taken but the inaction
of the Ministry and CSIR for four years when the AR/AA could not be laid
from 2014-2018 cannot be overlooked. One of the functions of the CSIR
Society is to review the progress and performance of CSIR. Since the Annual
Reports are the main indicators of the progress and performance of an
institution, the Society was negligent in the performance of its functions by not
examining and approving the Reports for four years. The CAG in its Separate
Audit Report of 2017-18 has also pointed out that the ARs/AAs of CSIR had
not been laid in Parliament for the past three years yet no action was taken on
the issue. The Committee appreciates the role played by CSIR as a premier
scientific institution in the country but emphasizes that timely laying of Report
should also be given priority as it provides both Parliament and the general
public access to the activities of CSIR.
2.21. The Committee further observes that as informed by the CSIR and the
Ministry, the members of the CSIR Society are notified every 3 years but
there had been no notification for the time period between May 2016 to
October, 2019 which was the main reason for delay in getting approval of the
Society for the AR/AAs to be laid in Parliament. The Committee perceives
that as per Rule 9 of the CSIR Byelaws, the term of the members expires after
three years and the Society itself does not become defunct. Moreover, as per
14
Rule 14, the Society continues to function despite vacancies and non-
appointment of members for any reason. Therefore, there does not seem to
any impediment for conducting meetings of the Society for approval of
ARs/AAs even if appointment of some members was in progress. The reasons
given for the delay in appointment of members proposed for the Society that
the members had either retired or were deceased are not acceptable. The
Committee is unable to accept the explanation that suitable members could not
be found for four years for appointment to the Society. The Committee notes
that the composition of the Society had been notified on 7th
November, 2019 i.e.
a few days before the interaction of the Committee with the CSIR on 11th
November, 2019 which confirms that the reasons given for delaying its
notification were baseless and irrational.
2.22. The Committee observes that the CSIR, by its own admission, faced no
constraints either in preparing ARs/AAs, or in translating or printing the
reports. The only impediments to timely laying of the ARs/AAs of CSIR as
stated by the organization and the Ministry were the time-lag between the
meetings of the Governing Body and the CSIR Society and the necessity of
taking approval of the President, CSIR for the AR/AA at the meeting of the
CSIR Society. The first reason is untenable as the Ministry and CSIR have
shown great laxity in notifying the composition of the CSIR Society by letting
more than 3 years lapse before the notification. The second reason is not valid
as the Bye-laws of the CSIR Society provide for the Vice-President to chair the
meeting of the CSIR Society in absence of the Chairman. Therefore, neither of
the reasons which were repeatedly put forward by the Ministry and CSIR over
the years to explain the delay in laying are credible. The Committee observes
that such laxity is all the more deplorable when there were Audit paras
pending which were allowed to remain outstanding because the ARs/AAs were
not being laid.
2.23. The Committee observes that there were 6 Audit paras pending since
1999 which were settled in 2016-2018, which is a delay of about two decades.
18 Audit paras pending from 2000 to 2013 were settled mostly in the years
2015-2018 with delays of more than a decade. Audit paras from the years 2015
onwards have mostly been settled after 2-3 years of delay. The Committee
observes further that there are no outstanding audit paras at present and the
delay in settlement of audit paras has been considerably reduced. While
acknowledging the organisation’s efforts towards reduction in delay of
settlement of the audit paras and the achievement of nil pendency of audit
paras, the Committee is compelled to register its displeasure in the decades
15
long delay in settlement of earlier audit paras pending from 1999 onwards. The
reasons given for delay in settlement of the long outstanding paras are
unacceptable to the Committee. The Committee observes that formulation of
appropriate replies to audit paras to the satisfaction of C&AG or revision
guidelines to prevent recurrence of irregularities took nearly two decades is a
farcical excuse and not becoming of a premier institute like the CSIR. The fact
that Audit paras were kept pending for nearly two decades for flimsy reasons
reveals that there was no serious attempt at settlement. Taken together with
the fact that despite the backlog of pending Audit paras, the ARs/AAs for the
previous four years were not laid at all, a regrettable state of affairs was
allowed to exist with no apparent attempt by either the organisation or the
Controlling Ministry to tackle the issues with the seriousness warranted.
2.24. The Committee finds it astonishing that the Ministry, which had the duty
of monitoring the preparation and laying of AR/AAs, did not take up the
matter of the pending reports earlier and it took an interaction with a
Parliamentary Committee to spur the Ministry and the organisation to action.
2.25. The Committee notes that the schedule for preparation of Annual
Accounts is a general time schedule given in the GFR, 2017 for all
organisations. The Committee observes that CSIR has not worked out a
detailed schedule for preparation of its accounts with deadlines for compilation
and preparation of accounts for approval of the Governing Body or of
submission of replies to draft Audit reports.
2.26. The Committee recommends that action for nominating members to the
CSIR Society may be initiated a few months before the expiry of the terms of
retiring members so that the vacant seats in the Society are kept to a
minimum. Since as per the byelaws the Society continues to function
irrespective of notification of members, the CSIR and the Ministry may ensure
that there is no delay in convening meetings of the Society and obtaining the
approval for the Annual Reports and Audited Accounts.
2.27. The Committee notes that the CSIR has already taken the initiative to
obtain approval for the Vice-President to chair the Society meeting when the
President was pre-occupied. Since the byelaws also contain a provision for the
same, there is no excuse for delaying holding the meetings of the Society on the
pretext that the President, CSIR Society was unavailable to attend the
meetings. The Committee avers that both the excuses for delayed laying which
have been repeatedly tendered by the Ministry and CSIR over the years,
16
namely non-constitution of CSIR Society and difficulty in obtaining approval
of President, CSIR for AR/AAs, have been found, upon examination, to be
indefensible and unjustified. The Committee recommends that the CSIR and
the Ministry should ensure that in future, the ARs/AAs are approved as per
schedule and there is no delay in obtaining the approval of the Society or in
laying in Parliament.
2.28. The Committee observes that the present schedule for Annual Accounts
is a reproduction of the generalized schedule given in Rule 237 of GFR, 2017
and recommends that a detailed schedule for preparation of Annual Accounts
may be drawn up, with deadlines for every stage of preparation of accounts,
submission to audit authorities, submission of draft replies to audit queries,
receipt of final audit report and forwarding to Ministry for laying in the
Parliament etc. The Committee recommends that the Audited Accounts may
be submitted to the CSIR for approval by end of November so that the
AR/AAs could be forwarded to the Ministry by mid-December for laying in the
Parliament.
2.29. The Committee also recommends that all efforts may be made to
maintain the schedule for settlement of Audit paras within a reasonable period
of time and care may be taken not to have any lapse in this matter. In future,
Audit paras kept lingering for years together as was done in the last decade for
untenable reasons would be viewed seriously and the Committee exhorts both
the organisation and the Ministry to ensure that the current momentum is
sustained.
EXTENSION OF TIME
2.30. The Committee observes that as per available record, the Ministry has
sought extensions repeatedly for the same year of Report, the average being
three extensions for every year of report from 2005-06 to 2015-16. In the years
2012-13, 2014-15 and 2015-16, extensions had been sought five times from the
Committee. On many occasions, the Reports have been laid after the last
extended date inspite of the many extensions granted by the Committee. For
example, the reports for the years 2014-15 and 2015-16 have been laid only on
20/9/20 after grant of five extensions the last one being uptill 31/7/19.
Moreover, the requests for extensions in many cases have been forwarded well
after the due date for laying. The most glaring case is of the year 2016-17,
wherein extension has been sought almost two years after the due date of
laying. It is evident that the Ministry has treated the process of obtaining
extension from the Committee in a casual way, routinely obtaining extensions
17
with no efforts being made to comply with the extended deadline.
2.31. The Committee invites attention of the Ministry to its recommendation
in this regard made in Para No. 27 of its 1st Report, to seek extension well in
advance, as soon as it is clear that there would be a delay in laying of the
Reports: -
"In case of delay in respect of reports for periods upto 31st March,
1981, a statement explaining the reasons for delay should also be laid on
the Table of the House along with the documents. If there is likely to be a
delay in laying a paper within the stipulated period, the administrative
Ministry should approach the Committee sufficiently in advance for
extension of time by explaining the reasons for doing so. A reference
should be made to the extension given by the Committee in the paper when
laid. This procedure should be followed in respect of all reports with
accounting periods from 1st April, 1981."
The Committee also draws the attention of the Ministry to its
recommendations in Para 11 of its 136th Report regarding repeated requests
for extension:-
“The Committee, therefore, cautions the Ministry and the Company
that Parliamentary norms of seeking extension from the Committee, in the
event of delay, must be adhered to. The Ministry must give valid reasons for
seeking extension. However, seeking the extension cannot be an unending
exercise. It is upon the Ministry and the Company to resolve the issues
causing the delay, because recurrent annual extensions for similar reasons
may be taken adversely by the Committee while considering the requests for
extension. In this regard, the Committee would like that in case of repeated
delays in laying, responsibility must be fixed.”
LAYING OF DELAY STATEMENT
2.32. The Committee observes that the Ministry has been appending the Delay
Statement along with the ARs/AAs for the past few years. However, the
chronological order of events is given only after supply of the accounts to the
Audit, leaving out the events regarding the process of compilation of the
Annual Report. The Committee recommends that the Annual Report of CSIR
includes information regarding all its Research Centers and compilation of the
same takes some time, the timeline for preparation of the Annual Report
should also be given in the Statement. The Committee emphasizes its
18
recommendation contained in Para 3.17 of its 22nd
Report wherein it is stated
that “The statements giving reasons for delay should contain information, in
chronological order setting forth the dates of compilation of accounts, their
submission to Audit, receipt of draft Audit Report, replies given to audit queries,
receipt of final Audit Report, translation and printing of Accounts and their
submission to the Ministry for laying on the Table of the House. So that the
House may identify the stages, causes and extent of delay and suggest remedial
measures wherever required.”
LAYING OF REVIEW STATEMENT
2.33. Apart from the Annual Reports and Audited Accounts, the
Ministry/Department is also required to lay a Comprehensive Review Statement.
The Review Statement by the Ministry/Department is a very important and
informative document for the legislature since it underlines the achievements made
against the targets set as well as the future plans chalked out to be achieved and
critical areas to be addressed.
2.34. The Committee notes that the CSIR covers a wide spectrum of science
and technology and has numerous achievements covered in great detail in its
Annual Reports. However, only one Review Statement has been laid for all the
four years 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 and this statement too is
extremely brief merely stating that since the Department is in agreement with
Annual Report, no “Review” thereon is being laid. The Committee has time
and again taken the view that mere agreement of the Ministry with the Report
of the organisation cannot be taken as an objective appraisal of the
organisation. The Committee draws the attention of the Ministry to its
recommendation in Para 3, 125th
Report :
“The Committee recommends that the Review by the Ministry should be an
objective appraisal of the performance against tangible benchmarks and a
comparative assessment of the Board’s performance vis a vis global and domestic
trends in the industry. The Committee also recommends that Ministry should give
the details of the process and methodology adopted for conducting such a
review.”
UPLOADING OF ANNUAL REPORTS / AUDITED ACCOUNTS / REVIEW
& DELAY STATEMENTS
2.35. The Committee observes that the CSIR has uploaded all the Annual
Reports and Annual Accounts since 2003-04, both English and Hindi versions
on its website. However, the Delay Statement and Review Statements have not
been uploaded. Moreover, the Annual Reports have been uploaded under a
19
common Head instead of a separate icon. The Committee, therefore,
recommends that the Ministry should ensure that the CSIR gives complete
information on its website by uploading the Review Statements and Delay
Statements till date, alongside its Annual Reports. The Committee in this
regard emphatically reiterates its recommendation contained in Para Nos 1.21
and 1.22 of its 156th Report which is as under:
“The Committee therefore recommends that all the Ministries/
Departments should upload Annual Report/ Audited Accounts/ Review Statement/
Delay Statement, if any, of their organisations soon after laying or within 03 days
of laying of the papers in the House so that the same may be easily accessible to
the general public for their perusal and benefit. The Committee further
recommends that this leeway of 03 days is initially given so that all the papers
required to be uploaded may be placed in the public domain for viewing. Later on
all out efforts may be made to place the papers so laid on the date of laying
itself.”
(Para 1.21)
“The Committee is of the view that in the current era of ever increasing
level of internet penetration in the country, uploading of the papers on the
respective websites should be given the priority at par with the laying thereof. In
this backdrop, the Committee is of the opinion that the process of laying should
always be integrated with immediate uploading of both English and Hindi
versions of the papers on the website.”
(Para 1.22)
UPLOADING OF LIST OF GRANTEE/ AUTONOMOUS
ORGANISATIONS ON THE WEBSITE 2.36. The Committee observes that GoI has released total funds of Rs. 30295.3
crore to the CSIR during the period of 2007-08 to 2016-17. As per Rule 230 (2) of
General Financial Rules, 2017, each Ministry/Department should make available,
on the website, a list of institutions/organisations along with details of the amount
and purpose of grants given to them, in order to avoid duplication in Grants-in-aid.
But neither the details of grants/funds released to the CSIR nor of any other grantee
organization under the control of the Ministry, is available on its website. The
Committee further observes that Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure
had vide Office Memorandum dated 16th September, 2020, forwarded to all the
Ministries/Departments, directed them to comply with the above cited provisions of
the Rule 230 (2) of GFR, 2017, but it is seen from the website of the Ministry that
no such information is available.
20
2.37. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry should upload
details of grants released to the CSIR and all other grantee /autonomous
organisations under its control, on its website, in compliance to Rule 230(2) of
General Financial Rules, 2017, without any delay and create a separate icon for
easy access of the same.
21
SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
DELAY IN LAYING OF AR/AAs
1. The Committee observes that ever since its first interaction with CSIR
in 1994, the position of the CSIR and its controlling Ministry had always
been that as per the CSIR bye-laws, the CSIR Society had to necessarily
meet under the Chairmanship of its President and any amendment to
the byelaws would require the permission of the Government. The
Ministry and the organization had also always presented the necessity of
obtaining the approval of the President, CSIR Society as the main
reason for delay in laying the AR/AAs of CSIR. Now, it is apparent
from a reading of the Bye-laws of CSIR that there is a built-in provision
for the Vice-President to be the Chairman of the Committee if the
President is absent. The Committee observes that both the Ministry and
CSIR seem to have had a casual approach to the issue and do not
appear to have examined their own bye-laws seriously or researched the
matter even after being called twice to give their evidence before the
Committee. The Committee notes that the CSIR had taken up the issue
at a meeting of the CSIR Society chaired by the Prime Minister on 14th
February, 2020 and had obtained the permission of the Society to
convene Society meetings in future to be chaired by the Vice-President
of the Society. The Committee appreciates the initiative however
belatedly taken but the inaction of the Ministry and CSIR for four years
when the AR/AA could not be laid from 2014-2018 cannot be
overlooked. One of the functions of the CSIR Society is to review the
progress and performance of CSIR. Since the Annual Reports are the
main indicators of the progress and performance of an institution, the
Society was negligent in the performance of its functions by not
examining and approving the Reports for four years. The CAG in its
Separate Audit Report of 2017-18 has also pointed out that the ARs/AAs
of CSIR had not been laid in Parliament for the past three years yet no
action was taken on the issue. The Committee appreciates the role
played by CSIR as a premier scientific institution in the country but
emphasizes that timely laying of Report should also be given priority as
it provides both Parliament and the general public access to the
activities of CSIR.
(Para 2.20)
22
2. The Committee further observes that as informed by the CSIR and the
Ministry, the members of the CSIR Society are notified every 3 years
but there had been no notification for the time period between May 2016
to October, 2019 which was the main reason for delay in getting
approval of the Society for the AR/AAs to be laid in Parliament. The
Committee perceives that as per Rule 9 of the CSIR Byelaws, the term
of the members expires after three years and the Society itself does not
become defunct. Moreover, as per Rule 14, the Society continues to
function despite vacancies and non-appointment of members for any
reason. Therefore, there does not seem to any impediment for
conducting meetings of the Society for approval of ARs/AAs even if
appointment of some members was in progress. The reasons given for
the delay in appointment of members proposed for the Society that the
members had either retired or were deceased are not acceptable. The
Committee is unable to accept the explanation that suitable members
could not be found for four years for appointment to the Society. The
Committee notes that the composition of the Society had been notified
on 7th
November, 2019 i.e. a few days before the interaction of the
Committee with the CSIR on 11th
November, 2019 which confirms that
the reasons given for delaying its notification were baseless and
irrational.
(Para 2.21)
3. The Committee observes that the CSIR, by its own admission, faced no
constraints either in preparing ARs/AAs, or in translating or printing
the reports. The only impediments to timely laying of the ARs/AAs of
CSIR as stated by the organization and the Ministry were the time-lag
between the meetings of the Governing Body and the CSIR Society and
the necessity of taking approval of the President, CSIR for the AR/AA
at the meeting of the CSIR Society. The first reason is untenable as the
Ministry and CSIR have shown great laxity in notifying the composition
of the CSIR Society by letting more than 3 years lapse before the
notification. The second reason is not valid as the Bye-laws of the CSIR
Society provide for the Vice-President to chair the meeting of the CSIR
Society in absence of the Chairman. Therefore, neither of the reasons
which were repeatedly put forward by the Ministry and CSIR over the
years to explain the delay in laying are credible. The Committee
observes that such laxity is all the more deplorable when there were
23
Audit paras pending which were allowed to remain outstanding because
the ARs/AAs were not being laid.
( Para 2.22)
4. The Committee observes that there were 6 Audit paras pending since
1999 which were settled in 2016-2018, which is a delay of about two
decades. 18 Audit paras pending from 2000 to 2013 were settled mostly
in the years 2015-2018 with delays of more than a decade. Audit paras
from the years 2015 onwards have mostly been settled after 2-3 years of
delay. The Committee observes further that there are no outstanding
audit paras at present and the delay in settlement of audit paras has
been considerably reduced. While acknowledging the organisation’s
efforts towards reduction in delay of settlement of the audit paras and
the achievement of nil pendency of audit paras, the Committee is
compelled to register its displeasure in the decades long delay in
settlement of earlier audit paras pending from 1999 onwards. The
reasons given for delay in settlement of the long outstanding paras are
unacceptable to the Committee. The Committee observes that
formulation of appropriate replies to audit paras to the satisfaction of
C&AG or revision guidelines to prevent recurrence of irregularities
took nearly two decades is a farcical excuse and not becoming of a
premier institute like the CSIR. The fact that Audit paras were kept
pending for nearly two decades for flimsy reasons reveals that there was
no serious attempt at settlement. Taken together with the fact that
despite the backlog of pending Audit paras, the ARs/AAs for the
previous four years were not laid at all, a regrettable state of affairs was
allowed to exist with no apparent attempt by either the organisation or
the Controlling Ministry to tackle the issues with the seriousness
warranted.
( Para 2.23)
5. The Committee finds it astonishing that the Ministry, which had the
duty of monitoring the preparation and laying of AR/AAs, did not take
up the matter of the pending reports earlier and it took an interaction
with a Parliamentary Committee to spur the Ministry and the
organisation to action.
( Para 2.24)
6. The Committee notes that the schedule for preparation of Annual
Accounts is a general time schedule given in the GFR, 2017 for all
organisations. The Committee observes that CSIR has not worked out a
24
detailed schedule for preparation of its accounts with deadlines for
compilation and preparation of accounts for approval of the Governing
Body or of submission of replies to draft Audit reports.
( Para 2.25)
7. The Committee recommends that action for nominating members to the
CSIR Society may be initiated a few months before the expiry of the
terms of retiring members so that the vacant seats in the Society are
kept to a minimum. Since as per the byelaws the Society continues to
function irrespective of notification of members, the CSIR and the
Ministry may ensure that there is no delay in convening meetings of the
Society and obtaining the approval for the Annual Reports and Audited
Accounts.
(Para 2.26)
8. The Committee notes that the CSIR has already taken the initiative to
obtain approval for the Vice-President to chair the Society meeting
when the President was pre-occupied. Since the byelaws also contain a
provision for the same, there is no excuse for delaying holding the
meetings of the Society on the pretext that the President, CSIR Society
was unavailable to attend the meetings. The Committee avers that both
the excuses for delayed laying which have been repeatedly tendered by
the Ministry and CSIR over the years, namely non-constitution of CSIR
Society and difficulty in obtaining approval of President, CSIR for
AR/AAs, have been found, upon examination, to be indefensible and
unjustified. The Committee recommends that the CSIR and the
Ministry should ensure that in future, the ARs/AAs are approved as per
schedule and there is no delay in obtaining the approval of the Society
or in laying in Parliament.
(Para 2.27)
9. The Committee observes that the present schedule for Annual Accounts
is a reproduction of the generalized schedule given in Rule 237 of GFR,
2017 and recommends that a detailed schedule for preparation of
Annual Accounts may be drawn up, with deadlines for every stage of
preparation of accounts, submission to audit authorities, submission of
draft replies to audit queries, receipt of final audit report and
forwarding to Ministry for laying in the Parliament etc. The Committee
recommends that the Audited Accounts may be submitted to the CSIR
for approval by end of November so that the AR/AAs could be
25
forwarded to the Ministry by mid-December for laying in the
Parliament.
(Para 2.28)
10. The Committee also recommends that all efforts may be made to
maintain the schedule for settlement of Audit paras within a reasonable
period of time and care may be taken not to have any lapse in this
matter. In future, Audit paras kept lingering for years together as was
done in the last decade for untenable reasons would be viewed seriously
and the Committee exhorts both the organisation and the Ministry to
ensure that the current momentum is sustained.
(Para 2.29)
EXTENSION OF TIME
11. The Committee observes that as per available record, the Ministry has
sought extensions repeatedly for the same year of Report, the average
being three extensions for every year of report from 2005-06 to 2015-16.
In the years 2012-13, 2014-15 and 2015-16, extensions had been sought
five times from the Committee. On many occasions, the Reports have
been laid after the last extended date inspite of the many extensions
granted by the Committee. For example, the reports for the years 2014-
15 and 2015-16 have been laid only on 20/9/20 after grant of five
extensions the last one being uptill 31/7/19. Moreover, the requests for
extensions in many cases have been forwarded well after the due date
for laying. The most glaring case is of the year 2016-17, wherein
extension has been sought almost two years after the due date of laying.
It is evident that the Ministry has treated the process of obtaining
extension from the Committee in a casual way, routinely obtaining
extensions with no efforts being made to comply with the extended
deadline.
(Para 2.30)
12. The Committee invites attention of the Ministry to its recommendation
in this regard made in Para No. 27 of its 1st Report, to seek extension
well in advance, as soon as it is clear that there would be a delay in
laying of the Reports: -
"In case of delay in respect of reports for periods upto 31st March,
1981, a statement explaining the reasons for delay should also be laid on
26
the Table of the House along with the documents. If there is likely to be a
delay in laying a paper within the stipulated period, the administrative
Ministry should approach the Committee sufficiently in advance for
extension of time by explaining the reasons for doing so. A reference
should be made to the extension given by the Committee in the paper when
laid. This procedure should be followed in respect of all reports with
accounting periods from 1st April, 1981."
The Committee also draws the attention of the Ministry to its
recommendations in Para 11 of its 136th Report regarding repeated
requests for extension:-
“The Committee, therefore, cautions the Ministry and the Company
that Parliamentary norms of seeking extension from the Committee, in the
event of delay, must be adhered to. The Ministry must give valid reasons for
seeking extension. However, seeking the extension cannot be an unending
exercise. It is upon the Ministry and the Company to resolve the issues
causing the delay, because recurrent annual extensions for similar reasons
may be taken adversely by the Committee while considering the requests for
extension. In this regard, the Committee would like that in case of repeated
delays in laying, responsibility must be fixed.”
(Para 2.31)
LAYING OF DELAY STATEMENT
13. The Committee observes that the Ministry has been appending the
Delay Statement along with the ARs/AAs for the past few years.
However, the chronological order of events is given only after supply of
the accounts to the Audit, leaving out the events regarding the process of
compilation of the Annual Report. The Committee recommends that the
Annual Report of CSIR includes information regarding all its Research
Centers and compilation of the same takes some time, the timeline for
preparation of the Annual Report should also be given in the Statement.
The Committee emphasizes its recommendation contained in Para 3.17
of its 22nd
Report wherein it is stated that “The statements giving reasons
for delay should contain information, in chronological order setting forth
the dates of compilation of accounts, their submission to Audit, receipt of
draft Audit Report, replies given to audit queries, receipt of final Audit
Report, translation and printing of Accounts and their submission to the
Ministry for laying on the Table of the House. So that the House may
27
identify the stages, causes and extent of delay and suggest remedial
measures wherever required.”
(Para 2.32)
LAYING OF REVIEW STATEMENT
14. Apart from the Annual Reports and Audited Accounts, the
Ministry/Department is also required to lay a Comprehensive Review
Statement. The Review Statement by the Ministry/Department is a very
important and informative document for the legislature since it
underlines the achievements made against the targets set as well as the
future plans chalked out to be achieved and critical areas to be
addressed.
( Para 2.33)
15. The Committee notes that the CSIR covers a wide spectrum of science
and technology and has numerous achievements covered in great detail
in its Annual Reports. However, only one Review Statement has been
laid for all the four years 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 and
this statement too is extremely brief merely stating that since the
Department is in agreement with Annual Report, no “Review” thereon
is being laid. The Committee has time and again taken the view that
mere agreement of the Ministry with the Report of the organisation
cannot be taken as an objective appraisal of the organisation. The
Committee draws the attention of the Ministry to its recommendation in
Para 3, 125th
Report :
“The Committee recommends that the Review by the Ministry should
be an objective appraisal of the performance against tangible benchmarks
and a comparative assessment of the Board’s performance vis a vis global
and domestic trends in the industry. The Committee also recommends that
Ministry should give the details of the process and methodology adopted
for conducting such a review.”
(Para 2.34)
UPLOADING OF ANNUAL REPORTS / AUDITED ACCOUNTS /
REVIEW & DELAY STATEMENTS
16. The Committee observes that the CSIR has uploaded all the Annual
Reports and Annual Accounts since 2003-04, both English and Hindi
versions on its website. However, the Delay Statement and Review
28
Statements have not been uploaded. Moreover, the Annual Reports have
been uploaded under a common Head instead of a separate icon. The
Committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry should ensure that
the CSIR gives complete information on its website by uploading the
Review Statements and Delay Statements till date, alongside its Annual
Reports. The Committee in this regard emphatically reiterates its
recommendation contained in Para Nos 1.21 and 1.22 of its 156th
Report which is as under:
“The Committee therefore recommends that all the Ministries/
Departments should upload Annual Report/ Audited Accounts/ Review
Statement/ Delay Statement, if any, of their organisations soon after laying
or within 03 days of laying of the papers in the House so that the same may
be easily accessible to the general public for their perusal and benefit. The
Committee further recommends that this leeway of 03 days is initially given
so that all the papers required to be uploaded may be placed in the public
domain for viewing. Later on all out efforts may be made to place the
papers so laid on the date of laying itself.”
(Para 1.21)
“The Committee is of the view that in the current era of ever
increasing level of internet penetration in the country, uploading of the
papers on the respective websites should be given the priority at par with
the laying thereof. In this backdrop, the Committee is of the opinion that
the process of laying should always be integrated with immediate uploading
of both English and Hindi versions of the papers on the website.”
(Para 1.22)
(Para 2.35)
UPLOADING OF LIST OF GRANTEE/ AUTONOMOUS
ORGANISATIONS ON THE WEBSITE
17. The Committee observes that GoI has released total funds of Rs. 30295.3
crore to the CSIR during the period of 2007-08 to 2016-17. As per Rule
230 (2) of General Financial Rules, 2017, each Ministry/Department
should make available, on the website, a list of institutions/organisations
along with details of the amount and purpose of grants given to them, in
order to avoid duplication in Grants-in-aid. But neither the details of
grants/funds released to the CSIR nor of any other grantee organization
under the control of the Ministry, is available on its website. The
Committee further observes that Ministry of Finance, Department of
Expenditure had vide Office Memorandum dated 16th September, 2020,
29
forwarded to all the Ministries/Departments, directed them to comply
with the above cited provisions of the Rule 230 (2) of GFR, 2017, but it is
seen from the website of the Ministry that no such information is
available.
( Para 2.36)
18. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry should upload
details of grants released to the CSIR and all other grantee /autonomous
organisations under its control, on its website, in compliance to Rule
230(2) of General Financial Rules, 2017, without any delay and create a
separate icon for easy access of the same.
( Para 2.37)
30
Minutes
31
RECORD NOTE OF DISCUSSION
The Committee met at 3.00 PM on Monday, the 11th
November, 2019 in
Committee Room „A‟, Ground Floor, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi.
MEMBERS PRESENT
1. Dr. C. P. Thakur - Chairman
2. Shri Sushil Kumar Gupta
SECRETARIAT
1. Shri Rohtas, Additional Secretary
2. Smt. Arpana Mendiratta, Director
3. Smt. Subha Chandrashekar, Under Secretary
4. Ms. Kiran K., Research Officer
WITNESSES
Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) and Council of
Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)
1. Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, Secretary, DSIR & DG, CSIR
2. Shri K.R. Vaidheeswaran, Joint Secretary (Parl.), DSIR/CSIR
3. Ms. Sumita Sarkar, Financial Advisor, DSIR/CSIR
2. The Chairman welcomed the officials of Department of Scientific &
Industrial Research (DSIR) and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).
The Chairman in his opening remarks, observed that there was persistent and
extraordinary delay in the laying of Annual Report and Audited Accounts of CSIR
and also observed that ARs/AAs from the year 2014-15 onwards had not been laid.
He also brought their attention to an earlier assurance given by CSIR in a previous
32
meeting with the Committee held in 2007 wherein the erstwhile DG of CSIR had
enumerated the reasons for delay and had apprised the Committee of the remedial
measures proposed to be taken to mitigate the delays. The Chairman sought to
know reasons in the failure in arresting delay and the pendency in laying of papers
of the last five years.
3. The Secretary, DSIR began his submission by giving a brief introduction
about DSIR and the bodies under the Department. Thereafter, he informed the
Committee about the functioning about CSIR. The Secretary accepted that there
was delay in laying of ARs/AAs of CSIR. He stated that CSIR is governed by two
bodies - Governing Body and CSIR Society. The Governing Body frequently
reviews the functioning of CSIR and the Society meets once a year where it
considers the progress made by CSIR and approves the ARs/AAs. He further stated
that the ARs/AAs of the financial years 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18
had been approved by the Governing Body but CSIR Society‟s approval of the
papers was pending.
4. The Secretary submitted that the Prime Minister is President of the
Society and Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences is the Vice
President of the Society which comprises of about 30 members which includes
Ministers of Finance and Commerce & Industry, Secretaries of various
Ministries/Departments, ex-officio members, etc. The Committee was apprised that
the term of the Society had expired and the composition of the new Society had
been notified and it was expected the meeting of the Society will be held very soon
and the ARs/AAs would be placed before the Society and laid in Parliament
thereafter.
33
5. Issues such as clearance of outstanding audit paras, efforts taken to constitute
the CSIR Society and hold the meetings, quorum required for CSIR Society
meetings, bylaws of CSIR Society regarding proceedings of Society, term of CSIR
Society, retrospective approval of ARs/AAs by CSIR Society, cost-effective
alternative methods to stubble burning, effectiveness of green crackers and air
purification equipments developed by CSIR, accessibility of Traditional Knowledge
Digital Library to the public, schemes to promote innovation, CSIR Labs and their
accessibility to students of Government schools etc. were discussed.
6. A Verbatim Record of the proceedings was kept.
7. The meeting adjourned at 4.10 P.M.
ARPANA MENDIRATTA
DIRECTOR
DATED THE 11TH
NOVEMBER, 2019 NEW DELHI
34
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE
ON PAPERS LAID ON THE TABLE (COPLOT),
RAJYA SABHA
II
SECOND MEETING
The Committee met at 3.30 PM on Thursday, the 22nd July, 2021 in
Committee Room „A‟ Ground Floor, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi.
Members Present
1. Shri K.C. Ramamurthy – Chairman
2. Shri Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar
3. Shri Shwait Malik
4. Shri Deepak Prakash
5. Shri G.K. Vasan
6. Shri Harnath Singh Yadav
SECRETARIAT
1. Shri Jagdish Kumar, Additional Secretary
2. Sh. Prem Singh, Director
3. Shri Sanjeev Chandra, Additional Director
4. Smt. Subha Chandrashekar, Under Secretary
WITNESSES
Ministry of Education
1. Shri Amit Khare, Secretary
2. Shri Vineet Joshi, AS (CU)
3. Ms. Kamini Chauhan Ratan, JS (HE)
4. Shri Subhash Chand Sharu, Director (CU)
University Grants Commission (UGC)
1. Prof. Rajnish Jain, Secretary
2. Shri P.K. Thakur, Financial Adviser
3. Dr. Jitendra Kumar Tripathi, Joint Secretary
35
University of Delhi (DU)
1. Prof. P.C. Joshi, Vice-Chancellor (Acting)
2. Dr. Vikas Gupta, Registrar
3. Shri Girish Ranjan, Finance Officer
2. At the outset, the Chairman welcomed the Members of the Committee. He, then,
apprised the Members regarding the first agenda of the meeting i.e to consider and
adopt the draft 162nd
Report on „Laying of Annual Reports and Audited Accounts
of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.‟
3. The Committee adopted the draft Report and authorized the Chairman to carry
out any changes on account of any typographical/factual errors. Thereafter, the
Committee decided that the Report may be presented to the Rajya Sabha on 27th
July, 2021 and authorized the Chairman and in his absence, Shri Deepak Prakash,
and in his absence, Shri G.K. Vasan to present the Report to the House.
4. ***
5. ***
6. ***
7. ***
8. ***
9. ***
10. The verbatim record of the proceedings was kept.
11. The Committee then adjourned at 4.58 P.M.
SANJEEV CHANDRA
ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR
Dated the 22nd
July, 2021
New Delhi
*** Matter pertains to other subject
*********
