THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state excise department formed with a stated objective to grapple with drug menace is now dealing with another formidable obstacle — fund crunch. Due to insufficient funds, the fuel bills of the department vehicles for the past three months are yet to get clearance, impeding anti-narcotic activities.
Excise sources said private petrol pumps are reluctant to supply fuel for the department vehicles owing to mounting dues. “We refill fuel in our department vehicles after giving the indent bill to private petrol pumps. There is an understanding between both parties that the bill will be settled within 45- 60 days. Once that period is crossed, the pumps often show reluctance to supply fuel to us. Now, it’s been about three months that the fuel bills were paid and most of the pumps have serious reservations against selling us fuel,” sources said.
An excise officer told TNIE that a department vehicle on average fills fuel to the tune of Rs 20,000 per month. In case of investigations spanning several districts and states, the fuel cost rises further. The officer said the officials are forced to spend out of their own pockets in case of emergency and not all can afford to do that since the reimbursement arrives slowly.
“Sometimes, it takes up to eight months to get the amount reimbursed. That’s a long wait and hence the officers generally are less inclined to spend for official purposes from their pockets,” sources added. However, the cops investigating drug cases involving commercial quantities, have to bear the brunt as the chargesheet has to be filed within six months to prevent the accused getting bail by default. The officers investigating such cases shoulder the fuel cost on their own as failure to file the chargesheet in the stipulated time result in professional setbacks.
“If an accused gets bail by default owing to inability in filing chargesheet on time, the probe officer will be issued a show-cause notice. To avoid the embarrassment, the sleuths pay the fuel bills on their own and wait for the reimbursement,” he said. The issue has also crippled the investigations that require inter-state travel, excise sources said. They said if the issue is not resolved soon, it will affect the anti-narcotic drive ahead of Onam.