J’khand LoP seeks probe into claim of Rs 10 000 cr missing from state treasury

Ranchi, Feb 6 (PTI) Leader of Opposition and former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi has demanded a high-level probe into a social media post by JD(U) MLA Saryu Roy claiming that Rs 10,000 crore went missing from the state treasury.
    Roy, in a post on Wednesday, claimed that the missing amount was detected during an audit in the tenure of former finance minister Rameshwar Oraon, following which a meeting of all departmental secretaries was called.
    Explanations given by the secretaries were unclear, too, Roy alleged.
    The Congress, a constituent of the ruling JMM-led alliance, dismissed the claims and said the alleged financial irregularities pertained to the BJP’s tenure.
    The post by the JD(U) MLA further claimed that the present finance minister, Radha Krishna Kishore, had last year sought a meeting of departmental secretaries over the issue, but his letter was forwarded to the chief secretary and has since remained pending.
    “Instead of following the minister's orders, the finance secretary sent the file to the chief secretary, and it has been pending for the last three months. Why is the government shying away from an investigation?” Marandi said in a statement.
    The senior BJP leader demanded an investigation to ascertain where the money went, and whether any senior officials or the chief minister benefited from it.
    Meanwhile, Jharkhand Congress spokesperson Sonal Shanti alleged that the state treasury was not audited for years despite the BJP being in power in the state for over a decade.
    He claimed that when audits began during the previous JMM-Congress-RJD government, irregularities from the BJP’s rule started surfacing.
    “The current government maintains strict control over financial irregularities. The finance ministry has also decided to conduct a complete audit of all boards, corporations and commissions. When the audit results come out, the tainted BJP rule will be exposed,” Shanti said in a statement.
    He claimed that the alleged Rs 10,000 crore irregularity prima facie appeared to have occurred during the BJP’s rule.
    Hemant Soren became Jharkhand chief minister in December 2019, succeeding BJP leader Raghubar Das, who was in office from 2014 to 2019.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)