India News | Delhi Govt Seeks Report from DMs on Covid-related Expenses, Procurement

New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) The Delhi government has instructed all district magistrates to review Covid-related expenditure and procurement along with allied relief activities and submit a report at the earliest.

A report by the districts for 2019-20 and 2020-21, would include expenses on tentage, ex gratia, food, vehicles, civil defence volunteers remuneration and others and submitted to the Revenue department headquarter at the earliest, said an order issued earlier this week.

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It has also instructed all the district magistrates to seek financial sanctions adhering to procedures laid down in general financial rules, citing many such proposals were improperly drafted.

The district magistrates have also been instructed to seek timely administrative approval of competent authority before awarding work to bidders.

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"In several cases, it has been observed that the proposals processed by the districts for seeking financial sanctions of the competent authority are not properly made," noted the order issued by the deputy controller of accounts.

They should strictly follow the procedures laid down in GFR 2017 and other instructions and guidelines issued on the subject from the time to time, it said.

All proposals seeking approval of the competent authority should clearly mention the proposed budget head with balance funds and codal formalities followed, in compliance to the directions issued by the finance department, stated the order addressed to 11 district magistrates in Delhi.

The department is in receipt of various complaints citing instances of alleged mismatch of bills, the order stated citing tentage bills, instructing the bills raised must also be checked as per the work orders provided by the concerned officer.

It also instructed that in the case of Chhat Pooja 2021, bills, geo-tagging and videography material of every site should be checked by all heads of departments, along with comparative expenditure in previous years.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)