Allahabad: A case has been registered by
the district administration here in connection with fraudulent
withdrawal of more than Rs five crore released by the Uttar
Pradesh government for the Panchayati Raj department during
the financial year 2009-10, a senior official said Friday.
"Fraudulent withdrawals to the tune of Rs 5.78 crore have
come to light and an FIR has been lodged at the Colonelganj
police station here against a clerk of the District Rural
Development Agency (DRDA), the then Treasury Officer (TO) and
the then Manager of the Punjab National Bank`s Rajrooppur
branch", District Magistrate Alok Kumar told reporters.
He said the irregularities were detected during the audit
of the money released by the state government in 2009-10, in
accordance with recommendations of the Twelfth Finance
Commission, for strengthening of Panchayati Raj institutions.
"The state government had released more than Rs 21 crore
and records of expenditure were available for just about Rs 16
crore.
An inquiry was conducted by Chief Development Officer of
the district, GS Navin Kumar, and based on the report the FIR
was lodged late last night", the DM said.
He said those named in the FIR included DRDA clerk
Brijesh Singh, the then PNB Branch Manager Satyadev (now
retired) and the then to Vinay Kumar Srivastava, at present
posted in Pratapgarh district.
Besides, the DM said, a recommendation has been made for
suspending and initiating departmental proceedings against
District Panchayati Raj Officer Om Prakash Srivastava, who has
been found guilty of negligence in the inquiry.
PTI
