The Haryana Congress has demanded a comprehensive investigation into the handling of public funds by all government departments, boards, corporations and autonomous bodies in the wake of the alleged Rs 590-crore IDFC First Bank scam.
Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Rao Narender Singh described the revelations in the CBI chargesheet as “serious” and urged the state government to issue a white paper detailing the deposit of public funds across departments.
“We demand the Haryana Government not to limit its probe to this single case but conduct a comprehensive investigation into all government departments, boards, corporations and autonomous bodies regarding the manner in which public funds were deposited in various banks,” he said.
Rao Narender Singh said the CBI chargesheet revealed that crores of rupees belonging to Haryana Government departments were allegedly transferred to other accounts and that financial procedures were manipulated at multiple levels to evade audits.
“If such a large-scale irregularity was possible, the government must clarify whether all other departments complied with the prescribed financial rules, RBI guidelines and government procedures while depositing public funds in banks,” he said.
He asserted that safeguarding taxpayers’ money was the government’s foremost responsibility and called for complete transparency regarding government deposits.
“The government should make public which department deposited how much money in which bank, under what rules and approvals those deposits were made, and whether all prescribed financial and administrative procedures were duly followed,” he said.
Calling for greater accountability, Rao Narender Singh said: “If the government truly believes in transparency and accountability, it should immediately issue a detailed white paper.”
According to him, the document should disclose bank deposits made by all government departments, boards and corporations, the approval process followed, compliance with applicable rules, and the names of officials or individuals found responsible wherever irregularities are found.
He said the issue appeared to extend beyond a single bank or department and raised concerns about the credibility of the state’s public financial management system.
“Instead of indulging in political rhetoric, the government must ensure strict action against all those responsible so that public confidence is restored and such financial irregularities involving public money are never repeated in the future,” he added.
