Duplicate Aadhaar Mappings: Telangana Govt Orders Probe into Fraudulent Salary Drawals
The Telangana government has taken a serious view of the recurring instances of fraudulent drawal of salaries and remuneration from government departments. Recent cases have surfaced, prompting a detailed examination of records and a state-wide inquiry.
Inquiries conducted by the government have revealed several anomalies, including two different employees with different employee codes but the same Aadhaar number. Additionally, there were cases of different names and Aadhaar numbers working under the same Head of Department with identical designations. Records also showed instances of two different employees sharing the same regular employee code, and employees with regular codes but no Aadhaar numbers drawing salaries from the government.
The development follows an employee mapping exercise undertaken by the Finance Department last year. The exercise was necessitated by uncertainty over the exact number of regular and temporary employees in various departments, undertakings, and allied institutions. It was also prompted by allegations that the previous BRS government had resorted to irregularities in the number of contract and outsourcing employees, with substantial amounts diverted from the State exchequer in the name of salaries or wages for temporary staff. The mapping aimed to create a comprehensive database of all employees to ensure accurate and transparent payroll management.
Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju, in a recent circular, directed all departments to conduct a thorough inquiry on a priority basis to ascertain whether any employee has drawn salary or remuneration fraudulently from more than one government establishment. This could be through suppression of facts, misrepresentation, or any other fraudulent means. The directive came after instances of duplicate Aadhaar mappings were noticed during verification of data in the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS). IFMIS is the government's centralized financial management platform, and the verification of data in this system revealed inconsistencies in employee records.
"The detailed scrutiny revealed that in certain cases, salary or remuneration has been drawn from more than one government establishment against the same Aadhaar number," the circular stated.
The government has viewed all such cases of potentially fraudulent drawal with utmost seriousness, describing them as a grave financial irregularity that causes wrongful loss to the government and wrongful gain to the individual. The circular emphasized that such practices not only lead to financial losses but also compromise the integrity of the financial management system and erode public trust in government institutions.
Such acts could attract disciplinary action under service rules and could also constitute criminal offences under various provisions of law, including those relating to cheating, impersonation, forgery, falsification of official records, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of government funds, and other allied offences.
It has been decided that if the cases are established, disciplinary proceedings will be initiated for imposition of appropriate penalties. Steps will also be taken to recover the entire amount of government money irregularly drawn, along with all recoveries admissible under the rules, from those guilty of the offences, including drawing and disbursement officers. Additionally, complaints will be lodged with the competent law enforcement agency for registering criminal cases, and prosecution will be initiated. The government has instructed all departments to complete the inquiry expeditiously and submit a detailed report, ensuring accountability and preventing any recurrence of such fraudulent practices.
