JAMMU: General Administration Department is all set to initiate action against nearly 400 employees of different Government departments, who fall in the category of wilful defaulters of the Jammu Central Cooperative Bank Limited and owe over Rs 8.36 crore to the ‘ailing’ bank in the shape of various kinds of loan as well as interest amount during the past quite long time.
Maximum employees in the lists of defaulters belong to the Education, Health and Medical Education, Police and Forest Departments while as rest of the defaulters are the officials of 32 other establishments of the State Government.
The most astonishing aspect is that despite being served notices a number of times by the management of the Jammu Central Cooperative Bank Limited (JCCB) these loanees preferred not to respond as if retaining the loan was their legitimate right and bank was their personal fiefdom.
Official sources told that from time to time a total of 366 employees of 36 Government departments obtained different kinds of loan from different branches of the Jammu Central Cooperative Bank Limited to meet their requirements.
Initially, they were regular in paying the instalments but with the passage of time they stopped making payments forcing the management of the bank to issue notices to them for clearing their loan. However, despite receiving notices these employees preferred not to repay principal amount as well as interest. Finally, all these 366 Government employees were declared as wilful defaulters by the management of the bank.
The issue came up for discussion in the Board of Directors meeting held under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary to Government, Finance Department, Navin Choudhary, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Jammu Central Cooperative Bank Limited, few days back.
Taking serious note of the failure of such a large number of Government employees to clear the loan worth Rs 8.36 crore, the Finance Secretary directed the management of the bank to submit lists of these wilful defaulter Government employees to the General Administration Department (GAD) for appropriate orders.
In compliance to the decision taken in the Board of Directors meeting, the Chairman of the Bank has furnished the department wise lists of these 366 Government employees to the General Administration Department for recovery as well as disciplinary proceedings against them, sources said while disclosing that GAD has initiated the process for action, which is all set to be taken shortly.
As per the data of defaulter Government employees, which has been assessed, employees of Education, Health and Medical Education, Police and Forest Departments are on the top of the lists.
A total of 99 employees of the Education Department have failed to pay Rs 2,55,63,925 to the bank while as 39 employees of Health and Medical Education Department have not cleared their dues worth Rs 1,19,91,017 so far. Similarly, 29 employees of Forest, Environment and Ecology Department have failed to repay Rs 70,96,970 loan and interest to the bank.
Likewise, 29 employees of Police Department have not cleared their dues worth Rs 60,33,737 despite being served notices a number of times by the management of the bank. A total of 18 employees of Revenue Department are on the list of defaulters for their failure to clear dues worth Rs 34,38,065 while as 14 employees posted in the offices of Block Development Officers owe Rs 26,57,583 to the bank.
The employees of Public Health Engineering Department have failed to clear Rs 25,47,338 worth loan and interest while as 11 employees each of Insurance Companies and Municipal Bodies are on the list of defaulters for their failure to clear dues worth Rs 26,32,152 and Rs 15,36,299 respectively.
According to the sources, Principal Secretary to Government, Finance Department Navin Choudhary has also advised the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, which is the Convener of the State Level Bankers Committee, to put together the lists of the State Government employees who are defaulters of the J&K Bank and other Commercial Banks.
“The lists so complied by the Jammu and Kashmir Bank will be forwarded to the General Administration Department for recovery and disciplinary proceedings”, they informed.
Users Today : 14
Users Yesterday : 149