SHILLONG, June 13: The apathetic attitude of the bureaucrats and officers of various departments to the suo-motu cognisance taken by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Meghalaya legislative Assembly on the leakage of precious revenue has now forced the panel to issue a firm instruction to the principal secretaries of various departments to reply to the PAC notices within the next seven days.
“We had a meeting on departments like revenue registration, taxation, transport, forest, and mining through which the state is losing revenue. The principal secretaries did not reply to the notices issued earlier,” PAC Chairperson Saleng A. Sangma said on Tuesday.
Stating that the PAC is concerned and serious about playing a constructive role, he said other departments too have been responsible for the state losing crores of rupees.
“Evasion of taxes is worth Rs 89 lakh and the loss of Excise duties on alcohol is about Rs 57.83 crore. We sought replies from the principal secretaries in a bid to plug the holes,” he said.
“We have given them another seven days to explain why have they not replied (within the stipulated time) and what are the reasons for their non-compliance. The matter is serious because the PAC is one of the highest financial panels,” Sangma said.
He further said the committee wants to check the balance so that the members are aware of where the state is earning more revenue.
“For example, we are incurring a loss of Rs 3.49 crore on minor minerals at the forest check gates. There are a lot of other areas where revenue is not realised. We have directed the officials to check the same and give us an explanation,” Sangma said.
