J-K Administration orders audit of Relief & Rehabilitation organisation

Sumit Hakhoo

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Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 12

For the first time in over two decades, the J&K Administration has ordered an internal audit of the Relief and Rehabilitation organisation looking after the affairs of the militancy-hit displaced families of Kashmir valley.

The order assumes significance as there had been widespread allegations of embezzlement and frauds within the organisation, which was often referred to as an “office without accountability” in the erstwhile J&K state.

The organisation has been receiving crores of rupees annually under the Security Related Expenditure since 1990 for providing free ration and cash assistance to about 20,000 Hindu, Sikh and Muslim families who migrated from Kashmir due to militancy and are registered under the “relief category”.

A total of 63,000 families have registered with the organisation since 1990 when the exodus of minority Hindus started from the Valley.

According an order issued by the Office of Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) a five-member committee has been constituted to conduct internal audit of each zone and camp office under the administrative control of the organisation.

“The committee shall visit all the zonal and camp offices and conduct a detailed audit of official record pertaining to cash assistance, ration inclusion deletion, bifurcation, cashbook and accounts and submit a detailed report within a fortnight,” said Relief Commissioner (Migrants) TK Bhat.

“We have ordered the internal audit to set the record right. It is for the first time in years that such a detailed audit is being conducted. It is important to improve the functioning of the department,” he said.

Bhat said that committee had been asked to prepare a detailed report to update the existing database.

The Relief organisation was established in 1990 after the exodus of over 3.50 lakh Hindus from the Valley. Nearly, 1,200 militancy-hit families from the erstwhile Doda region are also registered with the organisation.