Punjab chargesheets 2 PCS officers

While Dhol is currently posted as secretary of the state transport authority,Chandigarh administration,Ajay Kumar Sood is the Ludhiana SDM (East). He also holds the additional charge of joint commissioner (Ludhiana Municipal Corporation).

In the coming week,the chief minister is also likely to decide the fate of several PCS officers allegedly involved in the infamous district transport offices (DTO) scam of 2009. Former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal had brought the scam to light,stating that internal audit reports of the department had found glaring irregularities in DTO accounts.

A private inquiry conducted by Punjab Human Rights Organization (PHRO) had found shocking inconsistencies in the functioning of the DTO offices.

The office staff,in alleged connivance with the DTO,were submitting receipts of much lower amounts than the money gathered as taxes. The receipts submitted were fake,pointing towards siphoning off of crores by the DTO office staff.

Also,functioning at some of these offices was found to be under the control of private persons. The PHRO further found that VIP numbers were not auctioned according to practice but “sold” by the staff at the DTO’s office for remuneration,which was pocketed by the officials.

“VIP numbers are also given to influential persons at throwaway prices. That money too is not deposited in the treasury,” said S S Verka,Chief Investigator (PHRO).

Following the PHRO inquiry report,a regular departmental probe was ordered by the then state transport commissioner (STC) R Venkatratnam. The report also pointed towards gross irregularities in the functioning of the DTO offices in Ludhiana,Amritsar and Moga.

Verka claimed that though the departmental inquiry report was submitted to the government in 2010,no action had been initiated against those found to be involved in the scam. “We are now thinking of moving the high court in this regard,” said Verka.

He added that other than the inquiry report,the finance department,on two occasions,had written to the personnel department recommending strict action against some PCS officers responsible for the financial losses to the exchequer.

According to sources in the personnel department,the officers allegedly involved in the scam had been asked to file their replies,which has been done.

A comprehensive report based on the replies submitted by these officers was being forwarded to the chief minister for further action,said a senior functionary of the personnel department.