Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal state assembly and a leading member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, wrote a letter to the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman accusing the state government of unlawfully diverting funds given to them by the federal government for developmental projects.
Adhikari wrote to the Finance minister, “Request to probe the irregularities & unethical and illegal diversion of the Central Government Funds from the Wage and Means Head of the Consolidated Funds & PFMS (Public Finance Management System) to the SERF (State Emergency Relief Fund) Account by the West Bengal Government.”
West Bengal LoP and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman alleging West Bengal govt illegally diverting funds provided by the Central government pic.twitter.com/rR1nyqzPJg
— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2022
Stating that the West Bengal government opened their state nodal account of the Public Finance Management System in ICICI Bank, the same bank having the State Emergency Relief Fund, Adhikari alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government was illegally withdrawing a portion of the PFMS fund and depositing it into the SERF to use in different works other than the designated ones. He also alleged that the funds were diverted into the accounts of many shell companies.
“There’s hearsay that some of it is also being siphoned to the Accounts of the shell companies, related to the top most political people of the ruling party (who exert their control over the State Government). The SERF (State Emergency Relief Fund) is controlled by the Chief Minister’s Office,” Adhikari mentioned in the letter.
Adhikari further added, “When suballocating to the Departments, they are making too much delay, sometimes even 6 months after the amount was originally remitted by the Central Government. As a result, the whole accounting of the Scheme gets jeopardized and subsequently, the Utilisation Certificate cannot be generated on time. Whereas the calculation gets erroneous because it has been tampered with in the first place, due to the intentional delayed deposit. So the whole ‘hue and cry’ that the Central Government doesn’t pay in time is totally false and a politically motivated narrative, uttered time and again to reap political dividends.”
Suvendu Adhikari went on to say that the bank is engaged and worked very closely with the state government. “The bank is giving a cut from their part of accrued interest and the prize money earned from the Head Office for keeping such a huge amount of money in the Savings Account,” he added. Adhikari further asked the Finance Minister to look into the serious claims and take proper measures so that no one comes to discredit the central government.
Adhikari also filed an RTI application with the State Finance Department seeking information on the same. He shared the RTI and the relevant details in a tweet.
Allegedly WB Govt tactfully opened the State Nodal Account of Public Finance Management System (PFMS) in ICICI Bank, wherein the State Emergency Relief Fund (SERF) Account was in operation; so that Central funds could be easily diverted.
— Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) September 29, 2022
It’s a can of worms waiting to be opened !
“Allegedly WB Govt tactfully opened the State Nodal Account of Public Finance Management System (PFMS) in ICICI Bank, wherein the State Emergency Relief Fund (SERF) Account was in operation; so that Central funds could be easily diverted. It’s a can of worms waiting to be opened!” Adhikari said in the tweet.
