M A I N   N E W S

Bank managers found guilty
Pension scam in Amritsar district
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 2
After the Rs 23 crore scam, a high-level probe conducted by the district administration has found many bank managers guilty of not releasing the amount to the beneficiaries for months together which added to the miseries of old people.

The inquiry report prepared by Mr G.S. Bal, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Tarn Taran, and submitted to his seniors gave a list of 18 banks of the district which kept the cheques with them for more than three months. Though the disbursement of old-age pension was highlighted on the floor of the Assembly many times yet the banks concerned did not bother to release payments to the beneficiaries, allegedly due to ulterior motives. The banks which failed to release the payments in time included Cooperative Bank (Chamiari, Baba Bakala, Gaggo Mahal); Punjab and Sind Bank (Shahbazpur, Kairon, Varpal and Mallian); State Bank of Patiala (Patti, Verka, Harsha Chhina); Cooperative Bank (Tarn Taran, Rajatal, Jalalabad, Harike, Kang); UCO Bank (Jalalabad); State Bank of India (Vijay Nagar Branch); and Punjab National Bank (Channake and Goindwal Sahib).

Mr Bal, who conducted the inquiry on the direction of the Deputy Commissioner, told The Tribune, he had recommended registration of a case against one of the managers of Jandiala Guru branch who indulged in delaying payment to the beneficiaries. He said bank officials of Mattewal’s Cooperative Bank kept the payment with them for more than four months. During an inquiry conducted by the district administration, the bank officials failed to give a satisfactory reply for delaying the payment. Officials of the local branch of Amritsar Cooperative Bank, had claimed that they had sent the cheque to the Oriental Bank of Commerce for clearance the same day, however, the payment was stuck up for months for reasons best known to the officials concerned.

Mr Bal said he was informed by the Child Development Project Officers, who were deputed for the probe, that bank officials were squarely responsible for the delay in releasing payments to the beneficiaries.

On the other hand, about Rs 1crore pertaining to old-age pension is held up in various banks. Mr Bal said he was collecting information about inactive accounts in various banks as these accounts could not be operated for a long time. Many beneficiaries seemed to have died while others could not operate their accounts due to a variety of reasons.