Settle issues of unspent funds, audit objections, Solan DC told

The Local Fund Accounts Committee has directed Solan Deputy Commissioner Manmohan Sharma to hold a meeting of all urban civic bodies in the district and resolve pending issues like unspent money and settle audit objections within three months.

The committee led by its Chairman and Jawalamukhi MLA Sanjay Rattan examined the accounts of all departments, institutions and corporations in the district. He said that good governance was a collective responsibility and all officers and employees were its main components.

The committee took exception to the Nalagarh Municipal Council depositing funds in a private bank and directed all urban civic bodies to make use of government banks for the purpose. It directed the Solan Municipal Corporation to resolve the issue of disparity in water charges in various wards of the city as well as settle the issue of the pending liability of more than Rs 100 crore towards the Jal Shakti Department in the next few weeks.

The committee stated that it would later examine whether its suggestions had been adhered to in the stipulated time. The laxity on the part of various departments in providing utilisation certificates, which delays the provision of central funds and the completion of projects, was exposed, the lackadaisical approach of the officials in settling audit objections in most of the civic bodies also came to the fore.

The committee took exception to the diversion of funds meant for students’ schemes and directed the Education Department to ensure that the funds were spent on their betterment and not on buildings and other purposes.

The APMC was directed to establish proper infrastructure in Solan and Parwanoo so that farmers could sell their produce conveniently and did not have to go to neighbouring places like Pinjore. The issue of the APMC charging a 1 per cent market fee on apple was brought to the notice of the committee, which, it said, would be taken up with the state government.

Committee members Churah MLA Hans Raj, Theog MLA Kuldeep Rathore and Kutlehar MLA Vivek Sharma gave valuable suggestions. The Deputy Commissioner welcomed the committee members and assured them that their suggestions would be followed in letter and in spirit. The committee directed him to ensure that officials spend funds as per the guidelines of various departments and make them aware about the procedures.

Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, drew flak for the lack of extension activities. The committee directed the university to undertake more extension activities so that the agrarian community benefits from its research work.