Year on, no action on report highlighting ‘Rs 100-cr scam’

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 17

In May 2018, the then Minister for Local Bodies, Navjot Singh Sidhu, had shocked everyone by claiming that a forensic audit firm hired by the government revealed a scam of over Rs100 crore in the local Municipal Corporation, Amritsar Improvement Trust and district Sewerage Board.

He had issued a report of the Independent Review and Forensic Audit (IFRA) conducted by auditing firm Grant Thornton India LLP, hired by state government.

A year has passed, but there has been no further development on the findings of the report. The audit report had divulged that “cash books didn’t reconcile with the bank statements since February 2008, multiple accounts were in operation to siphon off public money, property tax collected from residents was not deposited in the exchequer and fake Provident Fund transactions were made in connivance with officials”.

In December 2018, the Department of Local Bodies reportedly asked the Municipal Corporation of Amritsar to pay Rs25 lakh to Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) as a payment to the audit firm for the forensic audit. The MC presented a proposal for the payment at the General House meeting where BJP councillors objected to the payment to the third party audit. The House cancelled the proposal and did not make payment.

Meanwhile, BJP councillors said the forensic audit was a political drama and the government failed to establish any scam.

BJP councillor Aman Aerry said, “Actually, there was no scam. The forensic audit proved costly to the state. We had opposed the payment of Rs25 lakh to PMIDC last year. Now, we are demanding from the government to reveal the action taken on the findings of the audit.”

PC Bali, an activist, had filed an RTI application to provide details about the forensic audit and action on its findings. The departments concerned are reportedly not responding to the application. “I had filed the RTI application several months ago, but did not get response,” said Bali.

Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said, “It is not MC’s prerogative. The state government and the Local Bodies Department had conducted the third party audit. I am not aware of any action conducted after the report. The House had cancelled the proposal for the payment. We did not make any payment for the audit.”

In January 2018, Sidhu had ordered Independent Review and Forensic Audit of four Municipal Corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Ludhiana from April 2007 to March 2017. After resigning from the Cabinet on July 16, he stays inside home and is not approachable.