Parking of funds by officials stumps PAC

Hyderabad: The AP Public Accounts Committee headed by R Prakash Reddy met on Monday and discussed about parking of funds of various departments against the norms. It was found that the officials opened personal deposit accounts (PDAs) and parked the funds released under different heads illegally.

PAC member and Nandigama MLA D Umamaheswar Rao is said to have asked the officials of the Finance Department as to why the government had not taken action against the officials who parked crores of rupees in PDAs against the guidelines. He asked whether the government was aware of the quantum of funds lying in PDAs.

He said that the funds released by the government should not be parked in any bank account at any stage.A It is learnt that Congress MLC and PAC member B Chengalraidu also found fault with the Finance Department for not taking action against the guilty officials. He said that the Finance Department should take steps to check such malpractices and ensure that they do not recur. He wanted to know if there was any mechanism in place to review such balances in PDAs.

Congress MLC and another member T Bhanu Prasad also expressed his shock over the parking of government funds in PDAs in a big way. He said that the government should stop such practices in future. He said that many departments resorted to the system and it should be curtailed immediately. PAC chairman R Prakash Reddy said that the government should submit all details on parking of funds before committee as early possible. "The funds of the government should not be misused with the system," he reportedly observed.