Bhubaneswar: Amid allegations and counter-allegations of corrupt practices in government offices, the state finance department has detected ‘misappropriation of government money’ through various means and has asked all departments to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the erring officials.
The department has also pointed out ‘serious deficiencies in management of cash.’Finance Secretary TK Pandey has issued a memorandum to this effect to all government departments and heads of the department.
Though the Secretary has not specified the amount of money that has been misappropriated, the memo says, “The provisions of Orissa Treasury Code (OTC) and Orissa General Financial Rules (OGFR) are not being followed with due diligence.”
“Neither the cash book is maintained on a daily basis nor is the same being checked by the head of office,” the memo said while pointing out misappropriation of funds which was detected due to incorrect depiction of the opening and closing balance and recording of expenditure twice in the cash book.
It further said, “Instances of misappropriation of government money with forged signatures have also been noticed due to
non-reconciliation of the cash book with the bank pass book/
statement.”
Stating that the C&AG of India has pointed out these issues in his audit report, the Finance Secretary said, “This is indicative of serious deficiencies in management of cash.”
The Secretary, meanwhile, has instructed all the departments to ensure officials scrupulously
adhere to the principles laid down in the Treasury code as well as OGFR and directed the departments to initiate disciplinary proceedings against erring officials “in the event of breach of rules leading to misutilisation or
misappropriation” of government fund.
Sudarsan Maharana, OP