Rs 100 crore embezzled in Amritsar civic bodies during SAD-BJP regime: Minister Navjot Sidhu

The local bodies minister said the exact amount would be known after auditors get entire details.
Amritsar : Releasing an interim audit report of the municipal corporation, improvement trust and the sewerage board of Amritsar, Punjab minister for local bodies Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday said more than Rs 100 crore was embezzled in during the previous SAD-BJP regime in the civic bodies.
He shared the interim report of an ‘independent review and forensic audit’ (IFRA) at a press conference, and said the exact amount would be known after auditors get entire details. Chief vigilance officer of the state’s local bodies department, Sudeep Manak, and officials of auditing firm Grant Thornton India LLP, were with him. He informed that under the terms of a contract dated December 13 last, between the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) and Grant Thornton India, the audit was initiated on January 9 to examine the 10-year regime of the SAD-BJP before Congress took power last year.
Highlighting the major “findings”, Sidhu said the local bodies are still using a single entry accounting system, “which is a very old system of bookkeeping”. “Double entry system was initiated in the 15th century in Europe, and today is a globally accepted system of accounting. Punjab government has notified in 2013 that all accounting is to be done in the double entry system, but this has not been implemented,” he said. He said the books of accounts of the MC and the trust are not up to date, and thus “cannot be relied upon to give a true and fair view of the financial activity”.
He said cash books are incomplete as some transactions are not recorded, and the cashbook is not reconciled every month with the bank statements to validate, track and exercise control over transactions. The MC’s general cashbook has not been reconciled with the bank statements for years, he said. “It cannot be ascertained how many bank accounts both the civic bodies (MC and improvement trust) have opened and closed in the last 10 years,” he said.
He added that records and files provided by the corporation and trust appear to be incomplete or key documents are missing or not provided, and that files generally have missing correspondence, contractor agreements, site inspections, material test reports, bidding documents, completion maps and measurement books.
“Renting and leasing records of shops and land have not been provided to the audit team. Provident fund of Rs 1.21 crore through 26 transactions has been misappropriated by an employee of the MC,” he alleged, adding that the audit team checked 1,311 cashbooks (65,550 receipts) of property tax, and “cash has not been deposited for 8,069 receipts”. “Presumptive loss for the period September 2013 to March 2015 is assessed to be Rs 2.41 crore in the property tax department alone. The other departments’ checking is in progress”.
He said about Rs 6.5 crore is due to the MC in the last two years and a half alone.
He also pointed out that according to the register of advances maintained by the accounts branch of the MC, it is observed that as on March 31, 2017, Rs 7.41 crore had been advanced to various employees and departments. As per the register, this amount has not been recovered or adjusted till date. He added that renting and leasing is an area of concern, and an amount of Rs 3.48 crore in rent is outstanding from shops rented by the trust under various schemes.