The district administration has decided to conduct an internal audit by a chartered accountant to unearth the financial irregularities in the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare.
Three officials of the council have been suspended from service, pending inquiry. Adoption Officer K. Thankamani, Assistant Adoption Officer Asha Sivaraj, and Accountant Kumari Nirmalekha were found prima facie guilty.
District Collector Biju Prabhakar who is also the council administrator said on Friday that the irregularities detected were just the tip of the iceberg. Tenders would be invited from leading charted accountants for verifying the vouchers for the past five years, Mr. Prabhakar told The Hindu . Mr. Prabhakar said the affairs in the council were in a shambles. “There is no finance officer in the council which has a yearly allocation of Rs.4.5 crore. No government procedure is followed. There is only an administrative officer who signs on the bills presented to him. But no mechanism is in place to verify the bills.”
One of the suspended employees had admitted to tampering with bills, he said. Action would be taken on the basis of the inquiry by the Additional District Magistrate, the Collector said.
Affairs in the council are in a shambles: Collector
‘Employee admitted to tampering with bills’
