LTC scam in tehsil office to fore;

Times of India; Diwakar Phatak; Mar 25, 2011,

GONDIA: The joy of visiting tourist spots and places of pilgrimage with families that most government employees get is cut short by some corrupt officials in the district who refuse to clear the payment of leave travel concession (LTC) unless their palms are greased. There were repeated complaints of some government employees getting the LTC payment even without visiting places by 'managing' officials. The facility is available to the government and semi-government employees once in four years.

When some government employees, particularly from those in the tehsil office here, started complaining that they did not receive their dues despite visiting the areas because they did not give commission to the drawing and disbursing authorities, this correspondent filed an application with the tehsildar under RTI on November 17, 2010 and sought details. The scribe was asked to deposit Rs 260 in SBI. But the bank asked to deposit money in the treasury which was done, though with some hiccups. The tehsil office then supplied LTC documents of 14 employees, but the information was incomplete. Important documents like travelling receipts, proofs of stay and copies of sanction were missing.

Therefore, fresh details were sought on January 11. Sensing trouble, the employees of tehsil office involved in wrongdoings decided to adopt bullying tactics. The tehsildar issued summons to this scribe on February 2 under section 227 of Maharashtra Land Revenue Code. Directives were issued to him to appear before the court of tehsildar BB Wanjari (who was already relieved on January 31) for giving a statement. This was done ostensibly by some staffers of the tehsil office to cause harassment.

This scribe then questioned the propriety of issuing such summons and refused to appear before the said court. The matter was also reported to the district collector, urging him to direct the tehsildar to withdraw the letter. What transpired behind the scene was not known but this scribe received a letter from Gondia tehsildar SR Motghare on March 15, admitting to the mistake of issuing summons. Irregularities in the payment of LTC were confirmed when the employees who had availed of benefits after 'visiting' Ganpatipule, Sawantwadi and Mumbai had in fact signed the muster book during that period.

Reports said that there are at least 25 employees who claimed and took the payment illegally. Two employees alleged that although they had toured various places, their claims were rejected because they did not pay a cut to the then tehsildar. They have demanded scrutiny of all the LTC bills of the block between 2008 and 2010. Surprisingly, this flaw was not noticed in two audits conducted so far. How deep have the irregularities been rooted could therefore be anybody's guess.