With the Public Service Commission (PSC) turning down the Finance Department’s demand to scrutinise its accounts and statements, the department personnel are accessing the commission’s expenditure details directly from the treasuries.
Finance Department sources told The Hindu here that on denying permission for a spot audit at the commission headquarters here, a decision has been made to deploy its personnel to the treasuries to garner details about the general expenditure of the commission as well as the travel and other bills of the chairman and members. The commission had rejected the inspection since its accounts are being regularly audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General, as per the tenets of the law. The Finance Department’s latest move is set to trigger another round of sparring between the government and the commission.
Finance Department squads, armed with scanners, are understood to have taken images of bills, files and other documents to prepare an expenditure report to be submitted to the government soon. Though the department reserves the authority to collect details from the treasury, the squads have not furnished any formal government order to the treasury officers for collecting the details.
The decision to press the squads into action is reported to be the outcome of the commission’s objection to create the posts of 49 Additional Secretaries in the Finance Department against a sanctioned strength of 14.
The commission had taken a strong stance against the decision to create the posts and it had incurred the wrath of the department higher-ups. The decision has been made at a time when the government has enforced stringent curbs on expenditure at all levels, the sources said.
Meanwhile, Finance (Expenditure) Secretary B. Srinivas has sought a clarification from the commission secretary on October 15 about the bills on the procurement of raw materials for setting up an online examination centre in Kozhikode and also for procuring “various things” for office use. The decision to secure the details of expenditure from the treasuries is being seen as a government bid to rein in the commission and infringe on its right for independent functioning, the sources said.
PSC rejected inspection as its accounts are audited by CAG
Government bid to rein in commission alleged
