Funds scam: 12 govt officials suspended

Agartala: The deputy director of the state information and culture affairs (ICA) department, Bimal Chakraborty, and 11 officials of the rural development department were suspended on Monday on charges of swindling crores of central funds.
All the 12 are accused of misappropriating Rs 16.83 crore MGNREGA funds meant for Bishalgarh block in Tripura West during Chakraborty’s the tenure as BDO.
The funds scam was exposed in an accounts audit of the panchayats early this year. The incumbent BDO of Bishalgarh, had on September 19, lodged an FIR with police against swindling of MGNREGA funds, but no one has been arrested yet. The accused officials are still on the run, said a police official.
The case has put chief minister Manik Sarkar in trouble. The then finance minister and present health minister, Badal Choudhury, had recommended lodging of an FIR against the accused officials, including the then BDO Bimal Chakraborty, on May 19 this year based on the audit report.
Again, the state government has ordered an inquiry into the ‘misappropriation’ of National Health Mission funds to the tune of Rs 27 crore in Unokoti district.
The state government’s official release on Monday said the audit revealed that there was no document on the expenditure of about Rs 27 crore which has been sanctioned under the National Health Mission (NHM) since 2006.
“Mission director of NHM has been directed to visit the chief medical officer (CMO) and verify the records and the state government has ordered an inquiry into the scam,” said health minister Choudhury.
The audit report revealed that the Government of India had sanctioned Rs 33 crore under NHM in the past seven years, of which records are available for expenditure of Rs 6 crore.
Meanwhile, leader of the opposition, Sudip Roy Barman, alleged that centrally-sponsored funds meant for development of Rupaicherri block of South Tripura were
“Till date, directorate of audit has found misappropriation of central funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore in past two financial years in the state, which is ever highest in the country and the Centre needs to take immediate action,” Roy Barman alleged.