The creche scheme was funded by the government till December 2016. The ICCW was one of the implementing agencies and it had claimed that 5,029 creches were functional in 2015-16. Image for representation
| Photo Credit: Mahinsha S.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the probe into the alleged embezzlement of funds released to the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) under the Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) and re-registered a case against the unknown persons, officials said on Thursday.
Based on a complaint lodged by the Ministry, the case was earlier registered at the Parliament Street police station in April 2019. However, now it has been transferred and therefore re-registered it.
The creche scheme was funded by the government till December 2016. The ICCW was one of the implementing agencies and it had claimed that 5,029 creches were functional in 2015-16.
In 2015, a writ petition was filed before the Delhi High Court alleging that the ICCW had been working in “clear violation” of the financial rules. The court constituted a three-member committee, which submitted a report, on the basis of which it issued an order on January 2, 2018, observing that the Centre could refer the matter to an investigation agency such as the CBI if so warranted.
Subsequently, an internal inquiry was undertaken on the then MWCD’s direction to determine the role of ICCW officials. It found several alleged irregularities, including improper keeping of financial records, cash disbursements, and delays in rendering complete accounts to the government.
“The manner of functioning indicates either a lack of control over filed formations or complicity of ICCW and its EC in the way things are being run…there is no evidence that ICCW was conducting inspections regularly in the field. This can be an indicator either of negligence or complicity in running the programmes assigned to ICCW…number of creches taken as running, number of children per creche, number of creches to be run in a State etc. have no reference to ground level reporting and assessment of needs,” the Ministry said in the complaint.
“Demands were raised for creches that did not exist-refer demanded for 248 creches in Bihar… this shows lack of proper maintenance of records…,” it said, adding that the ICCW had not refunded the unspent balance available with it or its State Councils for 2014-15 and 2015-16.
