DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand state government has found 'anomalies' of over Rs 13 crore in the audit of the state social welfare department.
The audit was done for the financial year 2018-19 by state government officials. A notice has been issued to the officials of social welfare directorate in Haldwani seeking an explanation about the issue.
Ram Bilas Yadav, additional secretary, social welfare, Uttarakhand said, "We are aware of the issue and correspondence is being done between the department and the government about the issue."
The department implements various schemes across the state including scholarships for underprivileged students, financial help for old, specially-abled, pensions for senior citizens and many more.
The audit, which was done by state government officials found out several violations of rules and regulations.
Several projects of reconstruction and renovation were done by the department but the officials failed to furnish the mandatory reports about those spendings. However, the bills of crores of rupees were paid in full.
Other irregularities included keeping the money meant for welfare schemes in accounts other than authorized ones.
The department has certain accounts in certain banks to be deposited as the schemes are implemented by transferring the money to the eligible people and families.
The department remained mired with allegations of scams. A petition is already ongoing in Uttarakhand high court with allegations of multi-crore scam of scholarships to SC/ST students studying above class 10, including those in professional courses such as engineering, medicine and business studies.
The scheme is run by the State Social Welfare Department.
Earlier, in April 2018, the state police department set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe an SC/ST scholarship scam.
The SIT was formed after police received complaints that colleges in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh claimed scholarship money from the state social welfare department allegedly after showing fake students.