<p>Bengaluru: From the irregular release of cash incentives to alleged misappropriation of funds and discrepancies in the payment of cash awards to sportspersons, the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) has flagged poor functioning in the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYES) in its latest report released on Thursday. </p><p>In a detailed table covering cash awards, Ekalavya Awards, Karnataka Kreeda Ratna Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, Amrutha Kreeda Dattu Yojana, Karnataka Sahasra Kreeda Pratibha Yojana and the SC/ST Encouragement Fund incentive scheme, the CAG found irregular release of cash incentives amounting to Rs 4.54 crore between 2019 and 2024.</p>.<p>Of this, Rs 86.85 lakh disbursed by DYES to sportspersons was found to be in violation of government guidelines. The audit also noted discrepancies in the Ekalavya Awards, which included non-Olympic events listed under Olympic disciplines. Those named in this list include cricketers Veda Krishnamurthy, Mayank Agarwal (both 2019), and Karun Nair (2020); Prasanth Kumar Rai (kabaddi, 2020), Muneer Basha (kho kho, 2020) and Nitin and Sakshath (netball, 2020 and 2021 respectively).</p>.<p>Cricket was included as an Olympic sport only in 2023.</p>.<p>“DYES was required to recognise and promote sporting excellence through appropriate cash awards and honours. We observed irregular payment of cash incentives to sportspersons to the extent of Rs 4.54 crore under various awards and schemes,” the CAG report said.</p>.<p>In response, DYES stated that the awards were shortlisted after inviting applications and were finalised by a committee chaired by the sports minister, followed by the issuance of a government order. The CAG dismissed this explanation as “not acceptable” and stated that the awards were granted without verifying achievements and included ineligible sportspersons.</p>.<p>Furthermore, the CAG reported suspected misappropriation of funds in cash awards and incentives for the period 2018–19 to 2023–24 amounting to Rs 93 lakh. This includes failed e-payments of Rs 44 lakh that were drawn through different bills and shown as credited to 62 beneficiary accounts by DYES.</p>.<p>“Scrutiny of the recipient IDs of these failed e-payment bills revealed that all 62 payments shown as transferred to beneficiary accounts were actually transferred to one of three account numbers belonging to an individual who was not a beneficiary. Thus, the amount pertaining to 62 different beneficiaries or agencies, which was credited to only three bank accounts, points to suspected fraudulent transactions to the extent of Rs 0.44 crore,” the CAG said.</p>.<p>The report comes soon after <span class="italic">DH</span> highlighted that DYES credited Rs 15 lakh to a few athletes under the state government’s ‘Target Olympic Medal’ scheme without announcing the final list of 60 Karnataka sportspersons selected for the project aimed at supporting them in the run-up to the Los Angeles Games in 2028.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: From the irregular release of cash incentives to alleged misappropriation of funds and discrepancies in the payment of cash awards to sportspersons, the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) has flagged poor functioning in the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYES) in its latest report released on Thursday. </p><p>In a detailed table covering cash awards, Ekalavya Awards, Karnataka Kreeda Ratna Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, Amrutha Kreeda Dattu Yojana, Karnataka Sahasra Kreeda Pratibha Yojana and the SC/ST Encouragement Fund incentive scheme, the CAG found irregular release of cash incentives amounting to Rs 4.54 crore between 2019 and 2024.</p>.<p>Of this, Rs 86.85 lakh disbursed by DYES to sportspersons was found to be in violation of government guidelines. The audit also noted discrepancies in the Ekalavya Awards, which included non-Olympic events listed under Olympic disciplines. Those named in this list include cricketers Veda Krishnamurthy, Mayank Agarwal (both 2019), and Karun Nair (2020); Prasanth Kumar Rai (kabaddi, 2020), Muneer Basha (kho kho, 2020) and Nitin and Sakshath (netball, 2020 and 2021 respectively).</p>.<p>Cricket was included as an Olympic sport only in 2023.</p>.<p>“DYES was required to recognise and promote sporting excellence through appropriate cash awards and honours. We observed irregular payment of cash incentives to sportspersons to the extent of Rs 4.54 crore under various awards and schemes,” the CAG report said.</p>.<p>In response, DYES stated that the awards were shortlisted after inviting applications and were finalised by a committee chaired by the sports minister, followed by the issuance of a government order. The CAG dismissed this explanation as “not acceptable” and stated that the awards were granted without verifying achievements and included ineligible sportspersons.</p>.<p>Furthermore, the CAG reported suspected misappropriation of funds in cash awards and incentives for the period 2018–19 to 2023–24 amounting to Rs 93 lakh. This includes failed e-payments of Rs 44 lakh that were drawn through different bills and shown as credited to 62 beneficiary accounts by DYES.</p>.<p>“Scrutiny of the recipient IDs of these failed e-payment bills revealed that all 62 payments shown as transferred to beneficiary accounts were actually transferred to one of three account numbers belonging to an individual who was not a beneficiary. Thus, the amount pertaining to 62 different beneficiaries or agencies, which was credited to only three bank accounts, points to suspected fraudulent transactions to the extent of Rs 0.44 crore,” the CAG said.</p>.<p>The report comes soon after <span class="italic">DH</span> highlighted that DYES credited Rs 15 lakh to a few athletes under the state government’s ‘Target Olympic Medal’ scheme without announcing the final list of 60 Karnataka sportspersons selected for the project aimed at supporting them in the run-up to the Los Angeles Games in 2028.</p>