CM refers findings for a thorough audit

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MINISTER SPEAK

Rs 1,335 crore deposited with various banks; officials walk away with interes​After BDA, it is the turn of the rural development and panchayat raj (RDPR) department of the state government to witness swindling of crores by top officials.A high-level inquiry in the RPDR department has revealed illegal diversion of a whopping Rs 1,335 crore government grant as deposits at various banks, with officials walking away with the interest. Earlier in April this year, RDPR minister HK Patil had suspended a junior official for misuse of departmental funds and financial indiscipline, after it was found that Rs 134 crore of the department’s money was deposited at Andhra Bank illegally.However, suspecting it to be a big scam, Patil had ordered a high level inquiry into the accounts and financial transactions of the department.The investigation conducted by additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) and executive director of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Energy and Development, Punati Sridhar, revealed that Rs 1,335 cr of government money was illegally stashed at various banks as deposits.Giving details of the investigations, Patil said, “This is the fund which was not used for the purpose to which it was allotted. For the sake of deposit, officials had opened a total of 1,128 accounts at various nationalised, private and scheduled banks in various parts of the state. The officials maintained neither a cash book for the last five years, nor any register of specimen bank signature.”The matter was brought to the notice of CM Siddaramaiah who referred the findings of the investigation for a thorough audit.The officials have been asked to submit a detailed report within two months along with the list of officials responsible for the irregularities in the department and ordered to book criminal case in case of any criminal intention. The state government is also considering blacklisting of banks that colluded with officials and allowed illegal parking of money without bringing it to the notice of the state government.Every year, the RDPR department entrusted with the development of rural infrastructure gets crores of rupees as grants by both the centre and state governments. At the end of every financial year or tenure of the finance commission, the unspent money has to be surrendered to the government. However, the officials submitted false utilisation certificates and diverted the money to various banks to be kept as deposits and enjoyed the interest that accrued on the money.“As per the rule, the officials must open a single account for each project. But in many cases, officials had opened several accounts for the same project. In fact, at Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL), both the salary and project fund used to be deposited to the personal account of engineers and there were no records to document the transactions,” Patil explained. “We have ordered the banks not to release even a rupee until further directions by the state government,” Patil said.What started on a small scale became larger over the years. The balance sheet of the department showed increasing amounts as unspent. Similarly, the inquiry was conducted at organisations affiliated to RDPR as well. “At KRIDL a total of Rs 3008 crore was kept in non-reconciled account.Even though part of it was invested in mutual funds, luckily there was no major loss. At some banks, MoUs were signed to get 8 per cent interest on deposits. However, there is hardly any record to prove payment of interest to the government,” Patil explained.* The matter was brought to the notice of chief minister Siddaramaiah who referred the findings of the investigation for a thorough audit. * The officials have been asked to submit a detailed report within two months along with the list of officials responsible for the large scale financial irregularities in the department and ordered to book criminal case in case of any criminal intention. * The state government is also considering blacklisting of banks that colluded with officials and allowed illegal parking of money without bringing it to the notice of the state government.* Every year the RDPR department entrusted with the development of rural infrastructure gets crore of rupees as grants by both the centre and state governments. * At the end of every financial year or tenure of the finance commission, the unspent money had to be surrendered to the government. * However, the officials diverted the money by submitting false utilisation certificates and diverted the money to various banks to be kept as deposits and enjoyed the interest that accrued on the money.This is the fund which was not used for the purpose to which it was allotted. For the sake of deposit, officials had opened a total of 1,128 accounts at various nationalised, private and scheduled banks in various parts of the state. The department officials maintained neither a cash book for the last five years, nor any register of specimen bank signature.