The pointed out that the federal government accumulates approximately R$28 billion in resources from PNAE (National School Food Program) without accountability analysis, which compromises the verification of the use of .
According to the agency’s audit, more than 45 thousand accounts relating to transfers made between 2011 and 2021 remain in the status of “awaiting analysis” at the FNDE (National Education Development Fund), responsible for examining expenditure made by states and municipalities.
In practice, the PNAE works in a decentralized manner: the federal government transfers resources to states and city halls, which are responsible for purchasing food and providing lunch to public school students.
After using the money, these entities must report to the FNDE, detailing how the amounts were applied.
It is precisely this stage that is stuck. With the accumulation of unanalyzed processes, the government is unable to verify whether resources were used correctly or whether there were irregularities, such as diversion or misuse.
The TCU warns that delays could lead to cases becoming time-barred — that is, missing the legal deadline to punish those responsible and demand the return of amounts that may have been used irregularly.
This can result, in practice, in the impossibility of recovering public resources and in the absence of accountability.
“Despite the advances provided by the adoption of the FNDE Fine Mesh model, liabilities remain significant, with a concrete risk of prescription of punitive and reimbursement claims”, says the audit.
According to the court, the problem arises, in part, from operational limitations of the FNDE given the high volume of resources and the number of accounts to be analyzed.
Created to guarantee the nutrition of millions of public school students, it generates billions of reais every year.
Resources are mainly used for:
- purchasing food
- payment of suppliers
- snack logistics
A CNN He sought out the MEC (Ministry of Education) and the National Education Development Fund to comment on the data, but there was no response until the publication of this report. The space remains open for demonstrations.
