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Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
50,000 govt employees ‘not paid', Madhya Pradesh begins probe
The Madhya Pradesh government has started investigating allegations that salaries of 50,000 government employees have not been paid for over six months as the finance department said it has begun a verification excercise. These employees have employee codes, but their salaries have not been drawn, raising suspicion about potential irregularities. The Commissioner of Treasury and Accounts (CTA) had on May 23 asked the Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) to investigate the matter. The finance department said in a statement that the verification of data for both regular and non-regular employees is a 'continuous process', carried out through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) software. The exercise is being led by the Office of the Commissioner, Treasury and Accounts, which has issued multiple instructions to treasury and disbursing officers to confirm the accuracy of employee records. 'All treasury, drawing and disbursing officers have been directed from time to time to verify employee data through official correspondence,' said an official from the commissioner's office. The state-level Financial Intelligence Cell (SFIC), functioning under the Commissioner of Treasury and Accounts, regularly analyses data from treasuries and monitors salary disbursement trends. According to officials, the SFIC recently scrutinised records of nearly 50,000 employees whose salaries have not been drawn through the treasury software in the past four months. 'In such cases, verification of employee details has been mandated through the respective drawing and disbursing officers,' read a directive issued by the Commissioner. 'This is a continuous process undertaken periodically by the office.' A review of data from December 2024 revealed further potential irregularities. 'There are employees with valid employee codes whose retirement dates have not been entered, and the exit process in IFMIS has not been completed, yet no salary has been withdrawn for four months,' the department said. In light of these findings, treasury officials have been asked to share relevant data with DDOs and obtain written confirmation within 15 days, including reasons for the salary stoppages. 'The details received from DDOs will be submitted to the Commissioner's office,' the directive noted. 'If any discrepancies are found during data verification, immediate reports must be sent through the Divisional Joint Director, Treasury and Accounts.' Officials maintained that the scrutiny of employee data is not an isolated audit, but rather 'a standard and ongoing administrative process aimed at maintaining transparency and accuracy in the state's financial systems'.
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Time of India
Snakebite scam of Rs 11.26 crore exposed in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh; what really happened will leave you speechless
A shocking financial scam involving fake death compensation claims has been uncovered in Seoni district, Madhya Pradesh, known as the setting for Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. Investigations reveal that between 2018 and 2022, a carefully planned fraud used fake deaths from natural causes like snakebites, drowning, or lightning strikes to steal public funds. One of the most striking discoveries is that a man was recorded as dying 30 times from snakebites, and a woman 29 times. These fake deaths were used to claim compensation, totalling an estimated Rs 11.26 crore from the state government. Authorities are now probing how the fraudulent claims bypassed multiple levels of verification, highlighting serious loopholes in the compensation system that allowed the scam to go undetected for years. Snakebite scam of 11.26-crore exposed by Joint Director of Jabalpur The finance department discovered in its findings that the mastermind of the scam is Assistant Grade III staff Sachin Dahayak. The investigation, conducted by Rohit Kaushal, Joint Director (Finance) of the Jabalpur division, started with the examination of the financial documents of the Keolari tehsil and then uncovered the extent of the fraud in a later stage. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like This Device Made My Power Bill Drop Overnight elecTrick - Save upto 80% on Power Bill Pre-Order Undo "An 11.26-crore scam has surfaced. The money was deposited into the bank accounts of 47 people, including family members, friends, and acquaintances of Dahayak," Kaushal said. Instead of money being deposited directly into accounts of genuine recipients, it was diverted into personal accounts of unrelated people—a sign of a carefully planned and orchestrated fraud. Snakebite scam involves fake death claims for compensation The scam involved the use of the same names repeatedly in multiple claims for compensation. For example: Ramesh was recorded as having died 30 times. Dwarika Bai is said to have died 29 times. Ram Kumar was recorded as having died 28 times. Each of these spurious deaths was claimed up to Rs 4 lakh compensation, the maximum available by the Madhya Pradesh government in case of death due to a natural calamity. During the investigation, officials discovered that claims were sanctioned without necessary documents including: Death certificates Post-mortem reports Police verification These documents were never brought forth despite constant requests by the investigation team. Lack of these mandatory checks enabled the scam to remain undetected for years. How criminals used system gaps to forge fake sanctions The criminals took advantage of gaps in the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) to bulldoze spurious bills and sanctions. The investigation further revealed that officers, ranging from tehsildars to a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), had their official login details used to create spurious sanction orders. The primary accused, Sachin Dahayak, has been arrested and is in custody. Departmental action against six other government officials has been launched, including: One Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Four Tehsildars One other Assistant Grade III employee All were serving in Keolari tehsil during the period of investigation (2018–2022). CAG audit exposes Rs 23.81 crore fraud in Madhya Pradesh A different audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in late 2022 also pointed out the systemic nature of the fraud. The audit, which considered disbursements from four big state relief schemes, identified that Rs 23.81 crore was fraudulently disbursed in 13 districts of Madhya Pradesh. Breakdown of misappropriated amount: Seoni: Rs 11.79 crore Sheopur: Rs 3.36 crore Shivpuri: Rs 3 crore Dewas: Rs 1.26 crore Sehore: Rs 1.17 crore The audit report, which was laid before the Vidhan Sabha in March 2025, reported that Rs 21.14 crore had been transferred to ineligible or unauthorized persons and Rs 2.67 crore had gone to government servants and their family members. In Seoni district alone, scrutiny of 81 bills from the Keolari tehsil found that Rs 11.64 crore had been illegally transferred to 59 ineligible persons in the name of 291 fictitious sanction orders. Financial fraud exposes weaknesses in digital governance The revelation of this compensation fraud in Seoni and other areas highlights key weaknesses in financial management and digital governance frameworks. The capacity to keep making false death claims undetected for more than three years indicates key lacunas in monitoring, documentation, and accountability. While inquiry goes on and disciplinary steps against officials implicated unfold, the case pinpoints the imperative for enhanced verification processes, periodic audit checking, and safe access to financial management systems to avert repeats of such massive financial frauds. Also Read | China's 650-year-old Ming Dynasty tower roof collapses in seconds, tourists evacuate in panic | Watch
