Complaint filed with Nagaland Lokayukta
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 24
The Tribal Affairs Department is facing charges of misappropriating development funds amounting to over Rs 10 crore. A complaint was filed with the Nagaland Lokayukta alleging that the Directorate of Tribal Affairs fraudulently diverted funds allocated for Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) consultancy services, Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS), and Article 275(1) grants.
Documents relating to the alleged fund misuse, including the complaint letter dated May 22, were made available to The Morung Express. According to the complaint, funds totaling Rs 10,49,01,563 were allegedly diverted through the department’s Public Financial Management System (PFMS) account.
The complainant cited “Bank transaction record, relevant official letters, RTI documents, Utilisation Certificate and Auditors Remarks” to back up the allegation.
While noting that the Directorate of Tribal Affairs was established in August 2019 to implement welfare schemes for the Scheduled Tribe community, the complainant held that the department engaged 3 private consultancy firms for the preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), at a rate of 4% of project costs, which violated GFR (General Financial Rules) 177-186 with regard to “Procurement of Services.”
It further alleged that the department disregarded a February 3, 2021, letter from the Administrative Head of Department providing instructions for the selection of firms. In addition, it pointed out what was held as “needless expenditures” by way of outsourcing preparation of DPRs when the department already had a dedicated engineering wing.
Despite outsourcing the job of preparing DPRs, it alleged that their services were not utilised. It said, “It came to light that the services of the consultancy firms were never utilised except for the firm names which is in breach of the general principles relating to expenditure and payment of money under GFR Rule 21.”
Citing records of the transaction trail, it said that Rs 8,72,49,744 was paid under the EMRS scheme. Payments under the SCA to TSS scheme totaled Rs 1,17,80,654, and Rs 58,71,165 was paid under the Article 275(1) grant. It cited cheque numbers and transaction IDs of the transactions or payments made to the 3 firms.
In the complaint, the complainant stated, “I am writing to formally report a serious case of financial fraud and misuse of government fund...” and requested the state Lokayukta to thoroughly investigate the alleged fraudulent financial dealings, and taking necessary legal action.
The allegations contained in the complaint have not been independently verified by The Morung Express.
