Goemkarponn desk
Panaji: The Dy Accountant General has unearthed a major scam worth ₹ 12.32 crore by the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) in renting out premises to the Sea Scan Marine Services Pvt Ltd.
The Dy AG said that the DFES the monthly charges to be collected from a private training institute for use of barracks and ground of Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services were based on the number of candidates undergone training.
“But the Directorate collected charges applicable for only 30 candidates throughout the lease period. This resulted in short collection of 12.32 crore,” it said.
The Dy AG said that the DFES did not demand for additional charges even when the company had recruited more than 30 candidates for training ata time, which has caused huge losses to the State.
“Under Rule 15 of the General Financial Rules (GFR) the head of the department concerned shall be responsible for the assessment and recovery of rent of any building and land hired out. As per Rule 9 of GFR the head of the department should ensure that the receipts and dues of the Government are correctly and promptly assessed, collected and duly credited to the Consolidated Fund. Further, he is responsible for making detailed rules and procedure inter alia regarding assessment and collection of receipts (Rule 11 (1) of GFR),” the Dy. Accountant General has said.
Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is operating Goa Fire Forces Training Centre in its own premises at Panaji.
On the request (December 1999) of M/s Sea Scan Marine Services Pvt Ltd, a company, the Government allotted (February 2000) two barracks of the Fire Training Centre to the company to set up a Maritime Training Institute for imparting training in Fire Fighting and Specialized Marine Training Courses.
As per agreement (February 2000) the company has to pay monthly charges at the rate of 51,500 per 30 candidates or 1,717 per day per 30 candidates whichever is greater. In addition, electricity and maintenance charges were to be borne by the company.
The monthly charges were revised to 75,000 per 30 candidates per month by notification from May 2011.
The company operated the training centre in the name of Sea Scan Maritime Foundation (SCMF), and imparted training in approved courses of Director General of Shipping, Government of India.
The DFES collected monthly charges at the rate of 51,500 with effect from October 2000 to June 2011 and at the rate of 75,000 per month, thereafter.
The government on the basis of an RTI application July 2018) sought clarifications from DFES regarding details of courses conducted, number of candidates trained and the monthly charges collected from the company.
Since the DFES has not maintained any records nor the company furnished the details sought from them, the DFES proposed (September 2018) for the termination of agreement. The government on confirming that no public purpose was served with this training approved the termination proposal in April 2019.
Audit scrutiny (October 2019) of records of DFES for the period from April 2015 to January 2019 revealed the company conducted four training courses during the period April 2015 to January 2019 with varying strength of candidates (ranged between 77 and 458 per month).
DFES however, never worked out the monthly charges based on the actual number of candidates but collected at the rate of 75,000 per month which was applicable for only 30 candidates.
DFES also did not assess and collect the electricity and maintenance charges separately any time during the contract period from the company.
Audit further collected the details of number of candidates and courses operated by the company and linked with the monthly charges actually collected by DFES for the period from April 2015 to January 2019 and the monthly charges dues for the above period was worked out to * 2.42 crore against 34.50 lakh collected.
“The DFES had never attempted to collect details of courses and number of candidates from the company and failed to observe the provisions of the GFR in assessing and collecting the government dues. When the matter was reported to the DFES it replied (August 2020) that they were directed by the Government to collect the dues for entire period of agreement. The Directorate has assessed the total dues at 12.32 crore by extrapolating the auditt calculation to the entire period of lease (2000-2019), after deducting the amount paid,” Dy. Accountant General said.
THE Dy AG further said the reply is not acceptable as the failure of the DFES in performing his responsibility vested on him as a head of department resulted in non-recovery of Government revenue to the extent of 12.32 crore.
“Further though the DFES issued notice to the company for remittance of 12.32 crore it has not demanded amounts due on account of electricity and maintenance charges and also the interest on delayed payment of dues as directed by the Government,” the Dy. Accountant General said.
