The consolidated financial report for the fiscal year 2023–24, submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG) on 11-04-2024, outlines the budget utilization, scheme-wise expenditure, and beneficiary coverage under various departments. The Ministry was allocated a total budget of ₹28,75,00,000, out of which ₹26,47,53,890 was utilized, leaving an unspent balance of ₹2,27,46,110 as of 31st March 2024. The expenditure was classified under five heads as follows: Educational Upliftment Schemes – ₹9,56,42,800 Livelihood & Employment Initiatives – ₹6,45,30,000 Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) – ₹4,28,21,490 Senior Citizen Welfare and Disability Programs – ₹3,12,40,500 Administrative Expenses & Monitoring – ₹1,05,19,100 Educational Upliftment Schemes included flagship programs like NMMS (National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship), PM-YASASVI, and SC Student Fellowship Program. Under Project Code: EDU/SC/24-B, ₹3,18,00,000 was sanctioned, but only ₹2,74,12,300 was spent till Q4. The remaining ₹43,87,700 was reallocated to PM-SHRI school digital initiatives. Livelihood Initiatives such as the National Skill Training Scheme (NSTS) and Rural Skill Hub Program (RSHP) benefitted a total of 1,67,254 individuals, of which 74,513 were women. Expenditure details indicate ₹2,89,65,800 for training logistics, ₹1,21,40,500 for toolkits & digital learning material, and ₹2,34,23,700 for third-party assessments and certification audits. Under the Welfare of SC/OBCs, three major programs were tracked: SC Community Development Project (SC-CDP) – ₹1,45,20,000 Post-Matric Scholarship Disbursement (PMSD) – ₹2,31,00,000 Legal Awareness Workshops (LAW) – ₹52,01,490 All disbursements followed the e-Kuber Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system. Audit notes mention 98.6% beneficiary verification through Aadhaar seeding. Senior Citizen Welfare schemes included the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) and the National Helpline for Senior Citizens (14567), with a total coverage of 3,21,845 beneficiaries across 17 states. Project ID: SCW/2023-07-D recorded delays due to vendor-related issues in device procurement for tele-assistance rollout. Disability Welfare Schemes under ‘Accessible India Campaign’ (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) saw an allocation of ₹1,10,20,000, out of which ₹91,47,000 was spent. Major expenses were related to: Braille kit distribution – ₹21,15,600 Accessible website development – ₹28,34,000 Ramp & lift installation in public buildings – ₹42,00,000 A total of 5,84,273 citizens benefited from all combined programs under the Ministry. This marked a 13.5% increase in outreach compared to FY 2022–23. Summary Table of Utilization: Category Allocated (₹) Utilized (₹) % Utilization Educational Upliftment Schemes 9,75,00,000 9,56,42,800 98.09% Livelihood & Employment Initiatives 6,50,00,000 6,45,30,000 99.28% Welfare of SC & OBCs 4,40,00,000 4,28,21,490 97.32% Senior Citizen & Disability Programs 3,50,00,000 3,12,40,500 89.25% Administration & Monitoring 1,10,00,000 1,05,19,100 95.63% Total 25,25,00,000 24,47,53,890 96.93% Note: Additional ₹3,50,00,000 was kept in reserve for disaster response and was not part of planned expenditure. Audit Observations (Ref: Para 4.7, GFR-2017): Delay in procurement under Tender ID MJSE/24/E-02 by 46 days Manual entries noted in Project EDU/SC/24-B violate Rule 87(b) E-tender compliance not met by three district offices (Lucknow, Nashik, Guntur) Funds under PMSD not fully disbursed due to mismatch in bank-Aadhaar linkage in 1,243 accounts All entries were reconciled with quarterly Form-FMIS/A-2 records, cross-verified by the DDO and countersigned on 03-04-2024.