Chirala: Panchayat secretary swindles 44.96 lakh tax collection

Chirala: A panchayat secretary in the district duped the government of Rs 44.96 lakh by not remitting the housing tax collected from the public for three years. The district panchayat officer announced they were going to lodge a police complaint as well as initiating a departmental enquiry.

Kandimalla Srinivasa Rao is a panchayat secretary who worked in Desaipet panchayat of Vetapalem mandal up to July 2019. On his transfer to Ramanayapalem panchayat in Parchur mandal, he didn't hand over charge to M Sankara Rao, who was posted in his place at Desaipet, up to February 26, 2020, and didn't submit the records.

Based on the complaint from the Sankar Rao, mandal parishad development officer (MPDO) K Nethaji conducted a preliminary inquiry and found that Rs 38,51,913 collected as taxes from the people was not remitted to the panchayat treasury account. Further, in the field inquiry on May 29, 2020, the MPDO found that the total amount that was not remitted to the government is Rs 44,96,201. He also found that Srinivasa Rao didn't follow ownership change procedures for the assessments and there were discrepancies in the records of 607 houses.

However, last week, the panchayat issued demand notices to property owners to pay the housing tax with arrears of 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-29 along with 2020-21. Furious over notices, locals staged a protest in front of the panchayat office demanding an explanation.

Prakasam district panchayat officer G V Narayana Reddy told The Hans India that they had already initiated a departmental inquiry into the alleged fraud by the panchayat secretary Srinivasa Rao. He said that the divisional panchayat officer (DLPO) had submitted a preliminary report and they were waiting for the detailed report by the MPDO which is expected to reach them in a day or two.

Narayana Reddy said that the collector would order the departmental action against the panchayat secretary for the irregularities while they would also lodge a criminal complaint. The DPO warned that the government would not spare anyone involved in swindling of public funds.