AAP on Rs 60-cr financial bungling in power dept: ‘Losses designed by UT’

“I don't know the reason why electricity department, which is already in Rs 250 crore profit, wants to give operations to a private player. It is clear that there is something fishy,” Dhingra, the former leader of Opposition said.

AAP, Aam Aadmi Party, Comptroller and Audit General, Punjab news, Chandigarh, Indian Express, current affairs

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh administration has reacted on the issue saying that there must be some mismatch in the data, without elaborating on details.

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Alleging that “losses have been designed by the administration”, Aam Aadmi Party councillor Yogesh Dhingra has condemned the Chandigarh administration following a report that Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) is conducting a special audit to probe alleged financial irregularity of Rs 60 crore in the power department.

“I don’t know the reason why electricity department, which is already in Rs 250 crore profit, wants to give operations to a private player. It is clear that there is something fishy,” Dhingra, the former leader of Opposition said.

He also questioned the administration that if the electricity department has a surplus of 200 mw surplus electricity, why are power cuts taking place. “When people call up the power department, their calls go unanswered,” he stated. He also asked the UT administration to provide free electricity to every household as it has “already imposed heavy taxes on its people”

In April, a team from the CAG has found serious financial irregularities — to the tune of Rs 60 crore — in Chandigarh administration’s Electricity Department during a inspection, following which they had written a letter to the UT Adviser, Chief Engineer and Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission, highlighting the huge ‘misuse of taxpayer’s money’.

However, as the letter failed to evoke any action by the UT administration, the CAG decided to suo-motu conduct a special audit of the electricity department of five years, with 2020-21 as the base year.

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh administration has reacted on the issue saying that there must be some mismatch in the data, without elaborating on details.