Puri: Going by Odisha government's own guidelines, shifting of funds from one bank to another without valid reasons & approval will tantamount to financial irregularity and it is no surprise that the opposition parties are up in arms over reported transfer of Lord Jagannath's funds to a private bank.
As per a letter dated 04-10-2019 issued by AKK Meena, the then Principal Secretary of Finance, to all the departments concerned, “All the state level PSUs (Public Sector Units) and SLASs (State Level Autonomous Societies) would be required to obtain the approval of their Governing Body/Board of Directors, as the case may be, for moving their deposits from one bank to another.”
In Jagannath Temple’s case, Srimandir Management Committee is the authorizing agency to transfer the funds. But interestingly, nobody in the committee reportedly knew about the transaction.
The letter further stated, “Shifting of the funds from one bank to another without valid reason and obtaining due permission from the competent authority will also be treated as a financial irregularity.”
The recent allegations against Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has put the government in a soup as reports of transfer of the corpus fund worth Rs 600 crore along with the donation money from a nationalised bank to a private bank (Yes Bank) has sparked a debate about government officials flouting Finance department directives.
Ganesh Chandra Mishra, a former banker said, “Every private bank wants deposits from the government. It increases their credibility. The official who moved the funds should answer why he/she did it.”
Ravindranath Mishra, former Srimandir administrator said, “Getting higher interest rates on fixed deposits could be a reason of transferring the funds to a private bank. But that doesn’t justify flouting norms. After all, a nationalized bank is more secure.”
Speaking to the media, a member of Srimandir Management Committee, Madhav Pujapanda said, “Everybody knows that the shares of Yes Bank are plummeting in the stock market. Action should be taken after discussing the matter with the finance advisor of the committee.”
The name of the recently suspended IAS officer Bijay Ketan Upadhyay, who was arrested for accepting bribe has also surfaced for allegedly transferring his department’s money worth Rs 79 Crore to the same private bank (Yes Bank).
It is alleged that the accused official/officials must have received some heavy kick backs from this deal with Yes Bank which was established in 2004.
Surprisingly, the Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari feigned ignorance about the matter. Dodging the questions from media, he said, “I have no information on this.”
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