All of the societies constructed by UT departments, which have long been under the scanner over their financial mismanagement, will now have to deposit all their funds in the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI). These societies will be regularly audited in the future.
The UT Finance Department issued orders to heads of all the departments on yesterday, saying, “The income/revenue generated by the societies under your control is stored in the society’s account with prior permission of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), otherwise it is considered as diversion of income from CFI and is not permitted.” It has also asked the departments that in order to maintain the income with the revenue generated by the society in the absence of any approval from the MHA, it may be ensured to deposit it in the CFI as soon as possible. It is worth noting that on May 14, the Finance Department had issued orders to nine departments to control and close the activities of the societies of these departments.
Complaints over the issue had been raised with the Prime Minister’s Office Grievance Cell
Activist RK Garg, who had raised the issue of the societies before the Prime Minister’s Office Grievance Cell, had objected to the administration issuing orders to only nine societies. Garg, in his complaint to the PMO in 2023, highlighted that the UT is directly administrated by the Government of India and its budget is allocated through the Union Budget passed by the Parliament. Therefore, all its revenues and expenditures are accounted for calculating budgetary allocations.
All of the income should be deposited in CFI, but it is not the case yet. Some of the prominent societies include Rogi Kalyan Samiti under the Health Department, Society for Promotion of IT in Chandigarh under the IT Department, Road Safety Society under the Transport Department, Rock Garden Society under the Tourism Department, and Post Graduate College Society under the Higher Education Department.