PCMC widens probe into 60 crore bill irregularities

Pune: Pimpri Chinchwad municipal commissioner Vijay Suryawanshi has said the inquiry into alleged irregularities worth Rs 60 crore in the civic body's accounts department has been expanded to include scrutiny of the quality and execution of the works for which payments were cleared.Suryawanshi told the PCMC general body on Tuesday that the scope of the committee headed by an assistant municipal commissioner, constituted to probe the alleged irregularities, has been expanded. "The inquiry is being conducted by four joint city engineers. We are examining the quality of the works, whether they were completed, and whether the work is commensurate with the amount paid," he said.He said a final report on such irregularities, if any, is expected within a week and will be forwarded to the state govt. "I assure the House that those found guilty will not be spared and strict action will be taken," he added.The issue was raised by standing committee chairperson Abhishek Barne, who accused the chief accounts officer and director of finance department, Pravin Jain, of being complicit. The committee's preliminary report confirmed that rules were violated while clearing 14 unapproved bills worth Rs 60.18 crore on March 30. Jain has since been sent on compulsory leave.During Tuesday's meeting, several corporators, many from BJP, said the controversy has tarnished the civic body's image and condemned what they termed misinformation and some BJP corporators being wrongfully accused of signing sub-proposals that were used to clear the bills, which need to be approved by the standing committee and the general body.While mayor Ravi Landge urged timely submission of the report, BJP city unit president Shatrughna Kate called for strict action against those found responsible. "The municipal corporation must operate transparently," he urged.NCP's Yogesh Behl concurred: "There is a standard procedure to clear such bills by the municipal corporation and that must be followed by all."Standing committee member Sulbha Ubale of Shiv Sena called this a "scam" involving multiple people. "In some cases, contractors or officials sought corporators' signatures on sub-proposals, while in others, corporators directly approached the chief accounts officer. Under the BPMC Act, such sub-proposals cannot be processed without approval of the standing committee or the general body," she said.However, BJP corporator Yogita Nagargoje, whose signature features on the sub-proposals, said they acted in good faith — they were misled that the sub-proposals were being forwarded to the standing committee. "It is incorrect to term it a scam; these were procedural irregularities, and the bills pertained to pending works," she said.
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