Could one government official park up to Rs. 134 crore of government money, over a period of four years, in a public sector bank in the city and virtually have complete control over it? Apparently yes.
Ramakrishna, Deputy Secretary, Rural Water Supply (RWS), RDPR, who is also Director of RWS, was suspended pending inquiry by the Karnataka Lokayukta. In fact, the alleged violation of all fiscal norms came to light during a departmental enquiry after which Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister H.K. Patil ordered the suspension. The funds, which were meant for rural development schemes, were allegedly parked by Mr. Ramakrishna in Andhra Bank, Gandhinagar, in the city, where he had opened an account in the name of ‘Director, RWS’. He had allegedly sanctioned several payments to contractors from the account. Lokayukta police will now have to probe into just how it was possible for an official to have complete control over such a large sum of money, if there were others involved, and whether there are other such cases. Officials also sent instructions to freeze the account in the public sector bank.
