Chennai Corporation writes off Rs 89 lakh as officials fail to submit bills

The Greater Chennai Corporation has decided to write off Rs 89 lakh, the expense it incurred between 1990 and 2000, though the officials concerned – since retired – failed to submit bills for it.

Instead of taking them to task, they have instead decided to hand over the retirement benefits to the errant staff, who were engineers attached to the Buildings department of the civic body.

According to a special council resolution dated February 20, the expenses were incurred for conducting functions at Rippon Building, refurbishment of chambers of senior officials and advance procurement. Of the total Rs 88.83 lakh, a major chunk of the unaccounted payments (Rs 81.20 lakh) was made to various government undertakings.

“Due to the shifting of offices during the period, expenses made at the time could not be accounted for. As many concerned officials were retired and some had passed away, the status of the files is not known,” the resolution said. The expenses were made by 12 engineers of the Buildings Department of the Chennai Corporation.

It is learnt that the decision to write off the money was taken after the retired officials approached the civic body to release their retirement benefits.

When asked a senior official about the move, he said that it was usual to write off the unaccounted expenses to clear the files. “Even the State government has such a practice and the decision is backed by the norms,” he added.

But, members of the public opined that the practice of letting off lethargic officials would only encourage others to indulge in misconduct. “Officials fear that they may not get their retirement benefits if they participate in misconduct. Writing off unaccounted expenses and releasing retirement benefits will embolden the officials to do wrong,” M Mohan, a resident said. He added that the rules should be updated in a way to levying penalties from the officials who misappropriate taxpayers’ money and claim files were missing.