Lucknow: Thirteen officials from the state Panchayati Raj Department were suspended here and action initiated against them after misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs107 crore was detected. The BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh on March 19, 2017 and this is the first major scam detected during the current dispensation in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a vigilance probe into the matter that is related to the release of performance grant to tainted panchayats between March and May this year. The UP Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Bhupendra Choudhury, disclosed here on Sunday that among the suspended officials were additional director Rajendra Singh, chief finance officer and accountant Keshav Singh, additional director S K Patel and deputy director Girish Chandra Rajak, all posted at the headquarters in Lucknow. Also in the suspension list are S P Singh, district panchayat officer, Deoria , and Arvind Kumar, district panchayat officer, Sultanpur, and six additional district panchayat officers of Deoria, who were not identified. A departmental inquiry has been ordered the then director, Panchayat, Anil Kumar Damle, who headed the committee to recommend the performance grant to villages. He retired from service recently. While sharing details of the case, the minister said the committee had sanctioned Rs 699.72 crore for 1,798 gram panchayats of 31 districts on March 21, 2017. These panchayats were selected on the basis of their performance and audit of 2013-14 and 2014-15. The funds were also released in two instalments in March and May, 2017. "During initial investigations by the department, it was found that of the total 1,798 villages selected for the funds, 1,123 were tainted as they had a bad record of utilisation of finances," Mr Choudhury said, pointing out that the banks were ordered not to release funds sent by the government, still Rs 107 crore were released. The Minister claimed that of the total Rs 699.75 crore, the government successfully retained Rs 593 crore, and just Rs 107 crore were misappropriated. The department would also initiate action to realise the money from the tainted officials, he stated. "The government has already ordered a vigilance probe into the matter on the directives of the Chief Minister and more action will be initiated after the investigation report is submitted," he added. UNI
