Bhubaneswar: Between 2015-16 and 2023-24, Odisha spent Rs 983 crore on projects in 976 villages of Keonjhar and Sundargarh which were not affected by mining, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found, flagging serious distortions in the utilisation of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds.During the same period, 584 villages directly or indirectly affected by mining received no projects despite the sanction of 9,739 schemes worth Rs 17,926.79 crore, according to CAG’s performance audit on the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) and functioning of DMFs, tabled in the assembly on Monday.It said DMFs failed to fulfil their core objective of ensuring welfare and sustainable livelihoods for people affected by mining operations. The report also pointed to widespread violations of norms, poor planning and failure to prioritise communities for whom the funds were created.The audit found that six DMFs (of Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Mayurbhanj and Nabarangpur) examined by CAG collected Rs 22,568.17 crore, including Rs 1,772.66 crore as interest, and sanctioned 17,435 projects worth Rs 20,947.52 crore between 2015-16 and 2023-24. Despite such massive spending power, none prepared the mandatory perspective plan or master plan. It also found that no DMF created an endowment fund for sustainable livelihood support for mining-affected people.The report highlighted major governance lapses in mining-rich districts. In Keonjhar, 757 projects worth Rs 9,733.37 crore were implemented without approval of the executive committee or board of trustees. In Sundargarh, five projects worth Rs 102.71 crore were sanctioned without approval, while 26 in Scheduled Areas were taken up without considering 620 proposals approved by gram sabhas.Financial irregularities were also widespread. The audit found that errors in assessment and collection of DMF contributions, along with failure to levy interest on delayed payments, resulted in losses of Rs 73.71 crore. Keonjhar DMF alone suffered an interest loss of Rs 84.51 crore due to imprudent investment decisions, while Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal and Nabarangpur lost another Rs 9.49 crore by not parking surplus funds in higher-yield accounts.CAG also flagged several instances of inadmissible expenditure, including Rs 136.77 crore on Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, Rs 145.06 crore paid to private hospitals for reserving Covid beds, Rs 59.13 crore spent on PPE kits for workers in mines and industries, and Rs 4.30 crore spent on private medical coaching in Jajpur, where only six of 437 students eventually secured admission to medical colleges.The report further pointed to idle and wasteful expenditure on non-functional hostels, wheelchairs, high-mast lights, garbage collection units, market complexes and other assets, besides weak monitoring, delayed audits and a lack of transparency in DMF operations. It recommended a review of all irregular expenditures, stronger oversight and a stricter focus on the needs of mining-affected communities.