Transport officials embezzle Rs 1 crore collected from PRS
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, July 08 2014: More than Rs 1 crore which is supposed to have been collected by the State Transport Department and accrued to the State Government as revenue from the operation of Passenger Reservation System (PRS) has been allegedly embezzled by some officials of the department.

According to a well-placed source, in a high-profile misappropriation case, more than Rs 1 crore of revenue to be collected by the State Transport Department from PRS has been pocketed by some officials of the department.

PRS is located inside the Transport Department complex, formerly the complex of now defunct Manipur State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), near Kalimai Mandir t Moirangkhom in Imphal West district.

The passenger reservation counter was set up in 1987 and is now run by the Transport Department as an Indian Railway office on deputation norm.

The Department provides the land, office space and employees for running the counter.

As per the source, two percent of the money received by the Transport Department from every train ticket bought from the counter should be accrued as revenue to the State Government.

Accordingly, a sum of Rs 50 lakh that had been collected by the Department during the period 2003- 2004 and another Rs 50 lakh for the year 2012 were supposed to have been deposited in the account of the State Government.

But so such deposition had been made.

According to the source, train tickets for nearly Rs 50 lakh were bought from the PRS counter by the public every month.

But interestingly, when the amount was deposited in the account of the State Government at the end of the year, it is always less than Rs 50 lakh.

As per an earlier, the State Government has the option of collecting the revenue generated from running the PRS from the Transport Department for every six months or annually.

But the officials concerned of the Department normally deposited the amount on annual basis.

When an inquiry was conducted to find out whether the Department has been depositing the amount on regular basis, it came to light that no money was deposited in the State Government's bank account for the last two years.

It has also led to the startling revelation that the Transport Department has already waived Rs 50 lakh for the years 2003 and 2004 without the prior approval of the State Cabinet.

However, for the year 2012, an amount of Rs 50 lakh which was supposed to have been deposited in the Government account has not been deposited at all regardless of whether there was any waiving or not, the source disclosed.

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