Chandigarh, April 25
As many as 60 officers of the Punjab Agricultural Development Bank (PADB) have been chargesheeted for their role in the alleged wrong purchase of a huge quantity of furniture during 2005-06.

Sources said senior officers, including the managing director, during that period could also be among the persons who could be affected in the future.

The additional registrar (administration) of the cooperative department had conducted an inquiry into the matter resulting in the chargesheet for 60 officers.

Officers of the PADB ignored norms and purchased almirahs, tables and chairs for several branches of the bank. The inquiry reports says that most of these branches did not require the furniture or even did not have space to keep it. The PADB has 89 branches in the state and the furniture was purchased for 68 of these. As many as 12 of these bank branches were already running into losses and did not require the furniture, says the inquiry report.

The financial commissioner, cooperatives, had ordered the inquiry.

The inquiry report says 18 of the branches purchased identical furniture. The PADB does not have a state-level purchase policy or a purchase committee. The bank branches have their own managing committees which have the right to purchase material after passing resolutions at their own level. It is strange that the bank branches in the state required the furniture at the same time.

During the inquiry, the then MD of the PADB had clarified that the bank at the state level purchased no furniture. Several of the bank managers were also questioned and they alleged that senior officers issued instructions to purchase it.

The report says that the branch managers named the MD and the regional officer among those who gave directions for the purchase. Rather, the MD issued repeated instructions at loan recovery meetings to purchase the furniture. There is no complaint about the quality of the furniture.

The inquiry report has disagreed with the resolutions passed by the managing committees of the bank branches. The report further says that the bank officers who were involved could not be let off. In some cases the furniture supplying firm was paid more than what was due.

Certain branch managers even returned some pieces of furniture but the records do not indicate if any money for the same was claimed from the supplier. The report says the PADB made the purchase in connivance with the bank branches.