Bengaluru, October 15: Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar B. Khandre has ordered a comprehensive inquiry into allegations that bank accounts of certain Gram Panchayats continued to be operated even after the local bodies had been formally dissolved and merged into urban local bodies.
In a written direction to the Department’s Principal Secretary, the Minister sought a detailed investigation into reports that official signatures and seals of Gram Panchayats were allegedly used to conduct financial transactions after the panchayats had been transferred to Town Panchayats, City Municipal Councils, or Municipal Corporations.
Khandre also directed officials to examine cases where only a part of a Gram Panchayat’s jurisdiction had been merged into an urban local body, while the remaining villages continued under the panchayat. The inquiry will determine whether Gram Panchayats continued to finance ongoing development works in the transferred villages after the merger.
A committee has been constituted to verify whether financial transactions were carried out illegally through the bank accounts of the transferred Gram Panchayats and whether public funds were spent on works after the jurisdiction had officially changed. The committee has been asked to submit its report within 30 days.
Bidar Cases Under Scanner
The Minister has specifically ordered an investigation into the bank accounts of Kolar, Aliyabad and Amalapur Gram Panchayats in Bidar district, alleging that transactions were carried out even after these panchayats had been fully merged with the Bidar City Municipal Council.
The inquiry will examine whether former Gram Panchayat employees, along with bank officials, played any role in facilitating the transactions. Investigators have been directed to establish how operations in the transferred accounts were permitted, whether any legal authorisation existed, and whether official signatures and office seals were misused.
The Minister further instructed officials to send disputed signatures for forensic examination wherever necessary. If the preliminary inquiry establishes evidence of irregularities, the officials concerned should be placed under suspension, criminal complaints lodged with the jurisdictional police, and FIRs registered in accordance with law, Khandre said.
