Rs 121 crore scam in panchayat department, money received in lieu of acquired land spent without approval
Mohali News: A scam of Rs 121 crore has come to light in the panchayat department. It is alleged that sarpanches and officials of several panchayats under Ludhiana Block-2 in connivance spent crores of rupees in exchange for the acquired land without approval. On Friday, Panchayat Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar ordered the immediate charge sheet of four BDPOs, six panchayat secretaries and six sarpanches.
Further investigation of the scam has been handed over to the Vigilance Bureau. At the same time, the amount spent without approval will also be recovered from the said officers and sarpanches.
Four private banks have been blacklisted for not cooperating in the investigation. The funds of panchayats will be withdrawn immediately from these banks and deposited in the designated bank. A letter has been written to the concerned DGM to take action against the bank managers.
This is how it was revealed
Hundreds of acres of land in Salempur, Sekhewal, Selkiana, Baunkar Gujjar, Kadiana Khurd and Dhanansu villages under Block Ludhiana-2 were acquired. In such a situation, these gram panchayats had received the award money of Rs 252.94 crore, but some corrupt officers and employees of the department, along with the sarpanches, withdrew Rs 120.87 crore from this amount. When the matter came to the notice of the minister, he ordered an inquiry into the matter.
An investigation team was formed under the leadership of a Joint Director-level officer. The investigation revealed that block development and panchayat officers, panchayat secretaries and sarpanches, in connivance with each other, withdrew an amount of Rs 120.87 crore by breaking the FD at their own level and spent this amount on their own without administrative and technical approval.
This is the rule
According to the policy and instructions issued by the department, when a gram panchayat receives the prize money on acquiring its land, then such amount has to be deposited in the State Bank of India in the form of FD. No one has the right to break such FDs without the approval of the government. Only the interest received from this FD can be spent on the development works of the village after taking administrative and technical approval in consultation with the technical authorities.