The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has recommended the Urban Affairs Directorate to take stringent punitive action against the employees who were allegedly involved in the misappropriation of revenue funds from the zonal offices of the civic body last year.
The recommendation for action has been made against a total of seven employees out of 10 who were found to be involved. Two others had passed away following health issues, while another one had secured a stay on any action against him, according to Corporation officials.
The civic body on its own can issue orders for minor penalties, including increment cuts and censure. More stringent action, including removal from service, has to be taken by the appointing authority in the directorate. Those who have been found to be involved in the fund misappropriation include a revenue officer, clerks, cashiers and office assistants. A superintendent has secured a stay against any action over the issue. According to Corporation officials, steps will also be taken to recover the amount which was lost through their actions.
The fund misappropriation issue had rocked the Corporation last year, with the Opposition parties organising weeks of protests demanding action against those involved. A Revenue officer who had newly taken charge at the Sreekaryam zonal office had noticed the anomalies in revenue collection on July 16 last year and reported it to the Corporation Secretary.
The Corporation administration on July 19 requested the local fund audit officials to carry out a detailed check of revenue collection at all the 11 zonal offices and the main office. The official at the Sreekaryam office, allegedly responsible for the anomaly, was suspended on the same day. The officials were accused of siphoning off revenue collections that were supposed to be remitted to the Corporation Secretary’s account.
Based on the reports of the audit team, officials at the zonal offices were initially placed under suspension. The police also registered FIRs in each of these cases, based on the Corporation’s complaint. Some of the accused were later arrested. Fund anomalies to the tune of over ₹30 lakh have been unearthed across the Sreekaryam, Nemom zones and Attipra zonal offices.
The civic body had to publish ward-wise list of those who had not paid building taxes after it was alleged that taxes which the public had paid were misappropriated.
