In response to the employees’ allegation that ₹800 crore had been withdrawn from their General Provident Fund (GPF) accounts “without their consent,” the State government, while dismissing the charge, termed it as a “technical glitch.”
A couple of days ago, Government Employees’ Association president K. Suryanarayana had said he was surprised to receive a message that ₹83,000 was debited from his GPF account.
Upon enquiring with the employees from other parts of the State, it was found that their GPF accounts too had been debited, Mr. Suryanarayana said. “It is estimated that nearly ₹800 crore has been debited from the accounts of about 90,000 employees across the State,” he said.
On Wednesday, leaders of the A.P. Joint Action Committee Bandi Srinivas Rao and Bopparaju Venkateswarlu had taken up the issue with the officials of the Finance Department. The associations later said the “withdrawal of amounts is illegal and unconstitutional.”
In a statement issued later, Mr. Rawat, citing the preliminary information furnished by the Director of Treasury and Accounts, said the DA arrears had been credited even before the bills were cleared.
The DA arrears were erroneously credited into the GPF accounts of the employees due to a “technical glitch.”
Quoting the Treasury rules, he said all the bills that remain pending as on March 31 every year shall be cancelled by the Treasury officer concerned.
Due to the cancellation of the unpaid DA arrear bills, the adjustment amounts that were erroneously credited to the GPF accounts were reversed by the system software, Mr. Rawat said.
“The government has not withdrawn the money,” Mr. Rawat clarified.
The DA arrear bills, which have components of adjustment to GPF and payment in cash, were sent for clearance after approval by the DTA as per procedure. Though the bills were not cleared in the payment application, the DA arrear amounts were erroneously credited to the GPF accounts of the employees due to a technical glitch, he added.
“The DA arrears will be credited and reflected in the GPF accounts of the employees as and when they are paid,” he said.
“The government is taking steps for payment of DA arrears and other employee benefits at the earliest in a time-bound manner,” Mr. Rawat added.
Leaders of the employee associations said the Finance Department officials had promised to disburse the entire GPF and DA arrears by the end of July.
“The issue has also been discussed with the officials in the AG’s office. The finance officials have said that it is not a deliberate act, but a technical glitch,” they said.
Mr. Venkateswarlu said thousands of employees were in trouble due to the technical problem.
