Some Revenue Officers in Haryana kept funds outside the government accounts in contravention of codal provisions and instructions of the Finance Department (FD) which resulted in an increased interest burden of Rs 15.81 crore. Even the interest of Rs 9.52 Crore earned on saving bank accounts has also not been deposited in government accounts.
This has been revealed by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its recent audit report on Haryana.
As per the report, scrutiny of records of the District Revenue Officer-cum-Land Acquisition Collector (DRO-cum-LAC), Panchkula, Fatehabad and Rohtak, revealed that an amount of Rs 737.71 crore was deposited during 2012 to 2017 with these DRO-cum-LACs through bank drafts or cheques for acquisition of land by the requisitioning departments.
Interestingly, these DRO-cum-LACs in Panchkula, Fatehabad and Rohtak, deposited Rs 212.21 crore, Rs 460 crore and Rs 65.50 crore respectively between June 2012 and May 2017 with various banks by opening 11 non-interest bearing current accounts and 58 saving bank accounts instead of opening project-wise Revenue Deposit Accounts in the Treasury, in violation of the financial rules and directions of the FD.
Keeping the funds in current and savings bank accounts resulted in extra burden of Rs 15.81 crore on exchequer. Further as per information made available to CAG, an interest of Rs 9.52 crore had been earned on 52 saving accounts but the same was not deposited in government accounts till October 2017, the CAG added.
Notably, on being pointed out (August 2016), District Revenue Officer-cum-Land Acquisition Officer (DRO-cum-LAO), Fatehabad stated in October 2016 that Deputy Commissioner had directed to deposit the amount in current accounts of different banks, However, subsequently, all funds were transferred to savings account.
The report further states that the DRO-cum-LAO, Panchkula, stated in May 2017 that bank accounts of all schemes except Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) had been closed after being pointed out by the audit and the balance amount had been deposited in the treasury. However, the bank account for the HSIIDC scheme had not been closed so far as an inquiry was being conducted by the Vigilance Department, while the reply of LAO, Rohtak, was awaited till October 2017.
The CAG observed that in violation of the financial rules and directions of the FD, these LACs kept huge amounts in various bank accounts. Remedial action taken is not partial as entire funds have not yet been deposited in the treasury.
The matter was referred to the Revenue and Disaster Management Department in July 2017 for comments. Further reminders were issued in September and November 2017, however, their reply was still awaited, the CAG added.