THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KSCSCST) has recommended to the government to order an investigation by the Finance Inspection Wing (FIW) into the welfare fund sanctions at all SC, ST offices and local self-governments concerned.
This follows serious irregularities in fund sanctions identified at two offices -- the SC development office under the Thiruvananthapuram city corporation and the district office of the State Scheduled Caste Development Department in Thiruvananthapuram.
Based on the inspection reports from both offices, it can be reasonably doubted that such fund frauds and irregularities have occurred in other offices as well, says an order issued by commission chairman B S Mavoji and member Soumya Soman. “These frauds might have been happening for quite a long time.
Hence the government should conduct a probe by the FIW at all SC, ST offices and LSGs concerned to know whether financial assistance to beneficiaries were stolen. It should cover the fund sanctions for the past five years,” the order said.
The commission has asked the chief secretary to complete the probe within three months. The misappropriation of the welfare fund was first reported from the SC development office under the Thiruvananthapuram city corporation. Initial investigation showed that Rs 76.47 lakh meant for distribution to eligible beneficiaries was defrauded by officers who credited the amount to their accounts and their family members.
Based on this incident, the KSCSCST conducted a ‘test investigation’ at the district office of the State SC Development Department. This investigation report showed various flaws and some purposeful efforts for corruption like non-maintenance of fund sanction registers.
“Instead of the contact numbers of beneficiaries, the mobile phone numbers of department officers are given in the treasury bills for fund transfer. This can be suspected as an effort to siphon off money. At present, there is no system to ensure that the assistance is credited to a beneficiary’s account. Hence, thefts by officers will go unnoticed,” the report said. The report also makes a slew of recommendations to ensure more transparency and accountability in fund transfers.
Initial investigation
The misappropriation of the welfare fund was first reported from the SC development office under the Thiruvananthapuram city corporation. Initial investigation showed that C76.47 lakh meant for distribution to eligible beneficiaries was defrauded by officers who credited the amount to their accounts and family members.