To expose the alleged corrupt practices during the previous SAD-BJP regime, Punjab Government has decided to conduct forensic audit of infrastructure works done in the urban local bodies during past 10 years.
“To streamline the working of urban local bodies and to assess the irregularities or shortcomings prevailing, we will go in for forensic audit of infrastructure works carried out in the past 10 years of the SAD-BJP rule,” said the state local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday.
Sidhu said that the contract for forensic audit has already been given to one company, M/s Grant Thornton limited, which has been appointed as an independent review and forensic audit agency for the same.
The Minister said that the audit, which would begin in January only, would cover the four Municipal Corporation towns of Amritsar, Jalandhar, ludhiana and Patiala, and four Improvement Trusts of these towns in the first stage. Besides, three Municipal Councils of Kharar, Zirakpur and Rajpura would be covered under the forensic audit, said the Minister, adding that it would be completed by September this year.
The said forensic audit, that covers an examination and evaluation of an entity’s financial information for use as evidence in the court and conducted to prosecute a party for fraud, embezzlement or other financial claims, would review the works related to water supply, sewerage, sewage treatment plants (STP) carried out by the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board in Amritsar, Jalandhar, ludhiana and Patiala during the last 10 years. Besides, the works related to Town Planning Department would also be audited.
Time and again, Sidhu has been pointing fingers at the erstwhile SAD-BJP regime, especially the Badals, for looting the state exchequer directly or indirectly. In fact, Sidhu has been carrying out departmental vigilance inquiries to catch the shady officials in the department.
Sidhu’s announcement came while releasing the vision document of his departments—local Government and Tourism and Cultural Affairs — sharing the futuristic measures contemplated as well as achievements while coining slogans ‘Captain Sarkar, lokan De Dwar’ and ‘Sabhyachar Ton Rozgar’ respectively.