Chief Secretary: ATI probe on in full steam, not half-hearted
Inquiry ordered covered all eight reports submitted by institute's director general
By : shilpa p
Update: 2014-11-23 05:07 GMT
Mysuru: Denying allegations that the government was not fully examining the alleged Rs 100 crore scam in the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Chief Secretary, Kaushik Mukherjee said the inquiry ordered covered all eight reports submitted by the institute’s director general, Rashmi V Mahesh.Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, Mr Mukherjee said he had directed the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms to get a response from former director general of the ATI, Amita Prasad to the charges made and based on her reply, the government would decide if an audit of the ATI's operations was needed.
“The government will order for an audit of the files related to the alleged irregularities at ATI, if Ms Amita Prasad’s response to the notice served on her is not convincing. Based on the audit report, we will decide if a higher probe is required in the case,” he added.Ms Rashmi had told reporters last month that there were over 16,000 files pertaining to the alleged irregularities in the ATI. In her 22 page final report to the Chief Secretary, dated October 15, she had insisted that, “What is reported here is just tip of the iceberg and an independent inquiry and a detailed investigation alone can unearth the extent of misuse of office and public funds.”
Ms Rashmi has in her eight reports to the government sent between August 4 and October 15 claimed there were irregularities even at the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) and State Institute of Urban Development (SIUD) during the six year tenure of her predecessor, Amita Prasad.
The preliminary report into her charges by Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR), Assistant Chief Secretary (ACS), T. M. Vijay Bhaskar, however, does not fully support them, according to government sources.