Deadline over, KMC yet to finish probe

EVEN AFTER passing of the deadline on Saturday, an inquiry set up by the DM and administrator of Kanpur Municipal Corporation (KMC) Deepak Kumar into the alleged misappropriation of Rs 7.5 crore, could not be completed.

The reason being proffered by KMC officials for this delay is that the bank statement of the two accounts 321310 (salary) and 3447 (contractors’ bill) from the Swaroop Nagar branch of Allahabad Bank could be solicited only two days back.  While the bank statement of pension account number 8200345 yet to be solicited by the KMC officials.

According to sources, additional municipal commissioner Raghvendra Vikram Singh, the inquiry officer appointed by DM, would now seek one-week extension from the administrator to complete the inquiry.

It may be recalled that on September 16, 2005, the State Finance Commission (SFC) released a grant of Rs 7.5 crore to KMC for the disbursement of pending salaries of its employees. On September 20, 2005, this amount was deposited into account number 3447 (contractors’ bill account). According to the guidelines of SFC, only 20 per cent of the amount could be spent on development work while 80 per cent had to be spent on payment of salaries of employees.  However, in gross violation of this ruling, 80 per cent of the amount was spent on development work. It was only when the employees’ union of the KMC lodged a complaint with the DM that the inquiry was set up.

Out of Rs 7.5 crore, a sum of Rs 6.5 crore was withdrawn. While Rs 5 crore was fixed for 15 days and Rs 1 crore was deposited in pension account and only Rs 50 lakh was deposited in the salary account.

According to sources, Rs 5 crore were fixed to ensure that the amount adds up to Rs 5.08 crore, which was the total salary to be distributed to the KMC employees. 

However, even after the maturity of this amount it was deposited into account number 3447 (contractors’ bill account) and illegal process to clear the contractors’ bill continued till December 3, 2005.

The extent of financial bungling in KMC could be gauged by the fact that till date two months’ salary of employees is still pending.  Now the fate of inquiry depends on the extension of one week’s time to be solicited by the additional municipal commissioner.