At Palike HQ, panel finds cheques gathering dust

A surprise visit to various departments at the BBMP headquarters on Monday drew more frowns and smiles from members of a standing committee for personnel and administrative reforms.

The panel, headed by Lakshmikantha Reddy, was pleasantly surprised to find 80% attendance in some departments. But in the chief accounts office, they found one-year-old cheques meant to be dispatched to the welfare and other departments still lying under the files.

Among them were a Rs6.95-lakh cheque dated March 31, 2010 in favour of the welfare officer (south) for reimbursement of educational tour for SC/ST for 2009-10, a Rs2.17-lakh cheque to the director of government press dated December 8, 2010, and a Rs2.79-lakh cheque dated February, 28, 2010.

Upset by the finding, Reddy has decided to take action against the officer who had allowed the cheques to gather dust without sending them to the officials concerned.

Since the cheques have only six months’ validity, they have been wasted, said a committee member. Of the 48 employees in the accounts department, only 21 were present on Monday. In the legal department, of the 28 staffers, only 10 were present.