M S Nazki
Early Times Report
MENDHAR, Apr 2 : A whopping amount of Rs 8.5 cr is said to have lapsed in Poonch district following the alleged failure of the treasury office to clear the bills submitted to it by various government departments. Taking a serious note of it, Association of Mendhar Sarpanches held a demonstration here today and criticised the treasury department for not releasing the bills submitted to it by panchayat office. Association chairman Moham-mad Sadiq Choudhary said the panchayat department had submitted to the Mendhar treasury bills of works done under MGNREGA, SDRF, BRGF and BADP but it did not clear them. The bills amounted to Rs 75 lakh, he claimed. He regretted that the Mendhar treasury did not entertain their bills. A deputation of the association members also called on ACR, Poonch, Shafiq Ahmad, who also has the additional charge of SDM, Mendhar, and apprised him of the matter. After giving them a patient hearing, the ACR spoke to DC, Poonch, M H Malik who assured him to take up the matter with the higher ups. Treasury Officer, Mendhar, Akhtar Ali said as per the government instructions, only those bills were to be cleared which were submitted to him up to 4 pm on March 30. The bills, which had not been cleared, were submitted to his office after the prescribed time and day, he claimed. District Treasury Officer, Poonch, Jatinder Pandita had nothing to say except for thanking this reporter for bringing the matter to his notice. Official sources said a total of Rs 8.5 cr had lapsed in different government departments of Poonch district. |