JOIN USGovt for concurrent audit to check scams
Replying to a question by JD(S) member H C Neeravari in the Legislative Council on Thursday, he said besides concurrent auditing, several other plans are going to be implemented to bring in more transparency in administration.
Concurrent audit is the financial audit done before incurring expenditure and payment of bills. The audit is again done after the work is completed and the matter will be taken up with the engineers of the Palike if the work is shoddy. Excess payment for the work done, lapses on part of the contractors and other aspects will be taken into account during concurrent auditing.
Gowda admitted that there were financial irregularities in the Palike.
Neeravari wanted to know from the government the action taken following the fire accident and loss of files pertaining to the fake bills scam. He also demanded that the investigation be handed over to the Lokayukta.
The chief minister said projects worth Rs 1,539 crore were taken up in Gandhinagar, Malleswaram and Rajarajeshwari Nagar. But 153 files available with the Palike regarding the projects taken up and implemented revealed that Rs 5.22 crore had been misappropriated.
Speaking about the measures taken to prevent such occurrences in future, he said: “We know there were irregularities. There were 530 bank accounts operating in the name of the Palike, it will be reduced to just two now. The no objection certificate will be made online now.”
He also said that the documents pertaining to the investigation into the fire accident were safe and in the custody of the CID. Some of the members said the fire mishap at the Palike was a deliberate attempt to cover up the scam and demanded a Lokayukta probe.
However, Gowda said he has faith in the CID and the investigation is already on.
Palike to strengthen tax collection
After the rap from the CAG about the poor collection of property tax, the Palike has decided to strengthen its tax collection mechanism using the Geographical Information System (GIS). G Manjunath Raju, chairperson, Taxation and Finance Standing Committee, said the Palike did not perform as badly as has been portrayed by the CAG.
To substantiate his claim, he said some five lakh properties were brought under the tax net. “Till 2009-10, the total number of properties in the tax net was just seven lakh. Due to continued efforts, the Palike could increase the number to 11.5 lakh in 2010-11 and this year 15.8 lakh properties were identified,” said Raju.
Using the GIS, the Palike has identified many properties in the City in the last two years, which were not paying property tax. This has resulted in increase in the BBMP revenue to roughly about Rs 1,500 crore, said Raju.
He added that the Palike is contemplating to issue Property Identification Number (PIN) to each property. A system-generated mechanism, the PIN, will automatically give details of the defaulters.